[Joint House and Senate Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]







                                                        S. Hrg. 117-695

                LEGISLATIVE PRESENTATION OF VETERANS OF
                 FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES AND
              MULTI VSOs: AMVETS, FRA, GSW, NCAI, NABVETS

=======================================================================

                             JOINT HEARING

                                 OF THE

                     COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS

                               BEFORE THE

                     U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                                AND THE

                              U.S. SENATE

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

                             MARCH 18, 2021

                               __________

      Formatted for the use of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs






[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]








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                 SENATE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS

                     Jon Tester, Montana, Chairman

Patty Murray, Washington             Jerry Moran, Kansas, Ranking 
Bernard Sanders, Vermont                 Member
Sherrod Brown, Ohio                  John Boozman, Arkansas
Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut      Bill Cassidy, Louisiana
Mazie K. Hirono, Hawaii              Mike Rounds, South Dakota
Joe Manchin III, West Virginia       Thom Tillis, North Carolina
Kyrsten Sinema, Arizona              Dan Sullivan, Alaska
Margaret Wood Hassan, New Hampshire  Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee
                                     Kevin Cramer, North Dakota
                                     Tommy Tuberville, Alabama

                      Tony McClain, Staff Director
                 Jon Towers, Republican Staff Director

                              ----------                              

        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS

                   Mark Takano, California, Chairman

Julia Brownley, California           Mike Bost, Illinois, Ranking 
Conor Lamb, Pennsylvania                 Member
Mike Levin, California               Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, 
Chris Pappas, New Hampshire              American Samoa
Elaine G. Luria, Virginia            Jack Bergman, Michigan
Frank J. Mrvan, Indiana              Jim Banks, Indiana
Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan,      Chip Roy, Texas
    Northern Mariana Islands         Gregory F. Murphy, North Carolina
Lauren Underwood, Illinois           Tracey Mann, Kansas
Colin Z. Allred, Texas               Barry Moore, Alabama
Lois Frankel, Florida                Nancy Mace, South Carolina
Anthony G. Brown, Maryland           Madison Cawthorn, North Carolina
Elissa Slotkin, Michigan             Troy E. Nehls, Texas
David J. Trone, Maryland             Matthew M. Rosendale, Montana
Marcy Kaptur, Ohio                   Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Iowa
Raul Ruiz, California
Ruben Gallego, Arizona

                       Matt Reel, Staff Director
               Maria Tripplaar, Republican Staff Director   
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              

                             March 18, 2021

                            REPRESENTATIVES

                                                                   Page
Takano, Hon. Mark, Chairman, U.S. Representative from California.     1
Bost, Hon. Mike, Ranking Member, U.S. Representative from 
  Illinois.......................................................     5
Brownley, Hon. Julia, U.S. Representative from California........    16
Lamb, Hon. Conor, U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania..........    18
Nehls, Hon. Troy, U.S. Representative from Texas.................    20
Rosendale, Hon. Matthew, U.S. Representative from Montana........    23
Levin, Hon. Mike, U.S. Representative from California............    26
Radewagen, Hon. Aumua Amata Coleman, U.S. Representative from 
  American Samoa.................................................    29
Sablan, Hon. Gregorio Kilili Camacho, U.S. Representative from 
  Northern Mariana Islands.......................................    30
Murphy, Hon. Gregory, U.S. Representative from North Carolina....    31
Cawthorn, Hon. Madison, U.S. Representative from North Carolina..    32
Frankel, Hon. Lois, U.S. Representative from Florida.............    34
Mrvan, Hon. Frank, U.S. Representative from Indiana..............    46
Kaptur, Hon. Marcy, U.S. Representative from Ohio................    48
Miller-Meeks, Hon. Mariannette, U.S. Representative from Iowa....    49
Trone, Hon. David, U.S. Representative from Maryland.............    50

                                SENATORS

Tester, Hon. Jon, Chairman, U.S. Senator from Montana............     4
Moran, Hon. Jerry, Ranking Member, U.S. Senator from Kansas......     6
Hassan, Hon. Margaret Wood, U.S. Senator from New Hampshire......    17
Boozman, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from Arkansas...................    21
Blumenthal, Hon. Richard, U.S. Senator from Connecticut..........    22
Tillis, Hon. Thom, U.S. Senator from North Carolina..............    25
Manchin III, Hon. Thom, U.S. Senator from West Virginia..........    27
Sinema, Hon. Kyrsten, U.S. Senator from Arizona..................    33

                       INTRODUCTION OF WITNESSES

Mr. Vincent ``BJ'' Lawrence, Executive Director, Washington 
  Office, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States..........     8
The Honorable Robert Wittman, U.S. Representative from the State 
  of Virginia....................................................     8

                               WITNESSES
                                Panel I

Hal J. Roesch II, National Commander, Veterans of Foreign Wars of 
  the United States; accompanied by Vincent ``BJ'' Lawrence, 
  Executive Director, Washington Office, Veterans of Foreign Wars 
  of the United States; Patrick Murray, Director, National 
  Legislative Service, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United 
  States; and Ryan Gallucci, Director, National Veteran Service, 
  Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States..................     9

                                Panel II

Jan Brown, National Commander, American Veterans (AMVETS)........    36
Michael F. ``Mick'' Fulton, National President, Fleet Reserve 
  Association (FRA)..............................................    37
Nancy Menagh, National President, Gold Star Wives of America, 
  Inc. (GSW).....................................................    39
Fawn Sharp, President, National Congress of American Indians 
  (NCAI).........................................................    41
Richard Kinsberry, President, National Association for Black 
  Veterans, Inc. (NABVETS).......................................    42

                                APPENDIX
                          Prepared Statements

Hal J. Roesch II, National Commander, Veterans of Foreign Wars of 
  the United States..............................................    59
Jan Brown, National Commander, American Veterans (AMVETS)........    93
Michael F. ``Mick'' Fulton, National President, Fleet Reserve 
  Association (FRA)..............................................   107
Nancy Menagh, National President, Gold Star Wives of America, 
  Inc. (GSW).....................................................   119
Fawn Sharp, President, National Congress of American Indians 
  (NCAI).........................................................   128
Richard Kinsberry, President, National Association for Black 
  Veterans, Inc. (NABVETS).......................................   133

                       Statements for the Record

American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Memorial Society 
  (ADBC-MS), Ms. Jan Thompson, President.........................   147
Air Force Sergeants Association (AFSA), Keith A. Reed, MSgt 
  (Ret.), Executive Director.....................................   155
American GI Forum of the United States, Lawrence Guzman Romo, 
  National Commander.............................................   168

  Attachment--American GI Forum of the United States.............   171

American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER), Julz Carey, National 
  President......................................................   173
American Ex-Prisoners of War, Robert G. Certain, National 
  Commander......................................................   176
Black Veteran Empowerment Council (BVEC), Victor LaGroon, 
  Director and Chairman..........................................   183
Black Veterans Project, Richard Brookshire, Co-Founder and 
  Executive Director.............................................   187
Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States 
  (EANGUS), Karen M. Craig, Command Sgt. Maj. (Ret.), President..   191
National Association of State Women Veterans Coordinators 
  (NASWVC), Liza S. Narciso, President...........................   199
National Council of Urban Indian Health (NCUIH)..................   203
National Indian Health Board (NIHB)..............................   207

 
  LEGISLATIVE PRESENTATION OF VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED 
         STATES AND MULTI VSOs: AMVETS, FRA, GSW, NCAI, NABVETS

                              ----------                              


                        THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

             U.S. House of Representatives,
                                   and U.S. Senate,
                            Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Committees met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., via 
Webex, Hon. Mark Takano, Chairman of the House Committee on 
Veterans' Affairs, presiding.

    Present:

    Representatives Takano, Brownley, Lamb, Levin, Pappas, 
Mrvan, Sablan, Underwood, Allred, Frankel, Trone, Kaptur, Ruiz, 
Bost, Radewagen, Banks, Murphy, Mann, Moore, Cawthorn, Nehls, 
Rosendale, and Miller-Meeks.

    Senators Tester, Sanders, Brown, Blumenthal, Manchin, 
Sinema, Hassan, Moran, Boozman, Cassidy, Tillis, and Sullivan.

        OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MARK TAKANO, CHAIRMAN,
              U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM CALIFORNIA

    Chairman Takano. Good morning. I call this hearing to 
order. I want to welcome all members and witnesses to today's 
hearing.
    I know that we have held two similar hearings this year, 
but I want to remind participants of some items to ensure that 
we have as smooth and engaging a presentation as possible.
    First, if you are experiencing connectivity issues, please 
make sure you or your staff contact our designated technical 
support so those issues can be resolved immediately.
    To ensure our members and participants can have robust 
engagement, I ask members participating remotely to continue to 
remain visible on camera for the duration of their 
participation in the hearing, unless they experience 
connectivity issues or other technical problems that render the 
member unable to fully participate on camera.
    We have a lot of participants and members in this hearing 
today, so I will follow the House Committee on Veterans' 
Affairs' policy that members remain muted when not recognized, 
just like turning on your microphone on or turning your 
microphone off during an in-person hearing. This is out of 
courtesy to all members on the committee, our witnesses and 
guests, so that background noise does not interfere with 
another member who is recognized to speak.
    As previously noted, we will recognize members in two 
groups today. First, in order of seniority, we will recognize 
members from both chambers who were present before the gavel; 
second, also in order of seniority, we will recognize members 
who were present after the gavel.
    Questions will alternate between chambers and between the 
majority and minority members present.
    Finally, members will be recognized for 3 minutes during 
each panel.
    Today, we will be using a virtual timer to keep time. And 
to keep the timer in view, in your view, select grid or focus 
view, move your mouse over the second thumbnail from the right, 
click on the white circle, and select ``Lock Participant,'' and 
from the list of participants choose ``Hearing Timer.'' This 
will keep the timer in your view.
    When you are recognized, you will need to un-mute your 
microphone and pause for 2 to 3 seconds before speaking, so 
that your words are captured on the live stream.
    Now, if you wish to have a document inserted into the 
record, please ask for unanimous consent, and have your staff 
email the document to [email protected]. 
That is [email protected]. It will be 
uploaded to the committee document repository.
    Now, does any member have a question about the procedures 
for this hearing?
    I hear none and I see none, so we will proceed. So I will 
start with my opening statement.
    Welcome, everyone, to the Joint Hearing of the House and 
Senate Committees on Veterans' Affairs to receive the 
legislative presentations of Veterans of Foreign Wars of the 
United States, or VFW, and multiple additional Veterans Service 
Organizations.
    It is my honor to join all of the members to hear directly 
from the Veterans Service Organizations that represent millions 
of veterans, their families, and surviving spouses. And I would 
like to welcome all VFW members and members of the VFW 
Auxiliary who have joined us today. We will hear VFW's 
testimony on our first panel.
    I also would like to welcome American Veterans, or AMVETS; 
the Fleet Reserve Association; Gold Star Wives of America; the 
National Congress of American Indians; and the National 
Association for Black Veterans. We will hear from all of these 
organizations on today's second panel.
    I especially want to welcome NCAI and NABVETS, who will be 
testifying for the very first time at our yearly legislative 
presentations. Inviting groups that specifically advocate for 
minority and underserved veterans is a crucial first step 
toward our goal of creating a more welcoming VA for all 
veterans.
    I would also like to specifically welcome any members from 
my home State of California. Normally, of course, we are in a 
big hearing room here in Washington and all of the veterans 
from California would stand up and cheer, but that is not 
possible, so I am going to have in my imagination that that is 
what has happened at this moment. We may not be in the same 
room as in years past through the ongoing pandemic, but I want 
to welcome you and thank you for joining us today virtually.
    The opportunity to hear from our VSOs is incredibly 
important to me. You represent veterans, their families, and 
survivors at all stages of life and service. Getting to hear 
from all of you provides the committees the opportunity to hear 
directly from you about your priorities and how we can best 
serve our Nation's veterans.
    We secured several important wins for veterans last 
Congress, including passing the Blue Water Navy Vietnam 
Veterans Act, the Deborah Sampson Act, the Commander Hannon 
Act, and the Veterans COMPACT Act, and I am very proud of these 
accomplishments and we could not have achieved them without 
you, you being the Veterans Service Organizations that serve 
our Nation's veterans.
    But we can't stop with our accomplishments of the 116th 
Congress. We plan to build on those accomplishments and 
continue our work for veterans in the 117th Congress and 
beyond.
    Last week, the House passed the VA Vaccine Act, which was 
the effort of many weeks of work with VA to address a critical 
issue. I was concerned that VA was literally turning away 
veterans who were seeking a vaccine because they made too much 
to be enrolled. A World War II veteran was turned away at the 
Detroit VMAC for this very reason. And I was very pleased that 
our committee was able to work in a bipartisan fashion to 
advance a needed fix to this problem, passing our bill within a 
week of introduction, and with the support of 53 co-sponsors 
and endorsement of eight Veterans Service Organizations. And I 
want to thank Ranking Member Bost, a former Marine--well, 
actually, as I understand, once you are a Marine, you are never 
a former Marine, you are always a Marine for life--I thank you, 
Ranking Member Bost, and Chairman Tester for working with me on 
this.
    Getting shots into the arms as quickly as possible is the 
most important thing before us, and I want to thank the VFW and 
other VSOs for their support of this effort and for making it a 
priority.
    Reading your testimony, it is clear that we share many of 
the same priorities. My committee's top priorities for this 
Congress include creating a more welcoming VA and building 
equity for veterans; reducing veteran suicide; addressing toxic 
exposure; ensuring student veterans receive quality education; 
advocating for women veterans; modernizing the VA; supporting 
VA's long-term care facilities; improving VA's management and 
oversight; and ensuring our legislative accomplishments are 
implemented effectively.
    Our veteran community is changing and becoming 
extraordinarily diverse. The veteran community includes more 
women, LGBTQ+, Black, Asian, Hispanic, and Native veterans than 
ever before. The diversity of our armed forces is an asset and 
that strength should be honored when veterans come into VA. 
Veterans deserve to always feel safe and welcomed when they 
walk through the doors.
    Relatedly, VA must acknowledge the diversity of its 
workforce and must address systemic discrimination in the 
workplace. We must also ensure that health care and benefits 
are fairly and equitably distributed to all eligible veterans, 
and, to do that, we must also ensure a safe and equitable 
workplace for VA employees.
    Now, our work to prevent veteran suicide also continues, 
and the challenges of last year have only given us more resolve 
to do so. So we must continue to pursue well-researched and 
scientifically sound policies that have been proven to prevent 
death by suicide. One such policy the committee is working 
toward this Congress is expanding lethal means counseling, so 
that more VA staff contractors and community providers have the 
tools they need to help vulnerable veterans and reduce veteran 
suicide.
    These are big goals, but I know that with the support and 
insight of the organizations we have here today, as well as 
with the support of the Administration, we will be able to 
deliver on them and fulfill the promises we have made to our 
veterans.
    So I am looking forward to hearing your testimony today and 
thank all the organizations here today for their continued 
advocacy and support of the veteran community, so thank you all 
for being here today.
    Now, Chairman Tester, I recognize you for your opening 
remarks.

        OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JON TESTER, CHAIRMAN,
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA

    Senator Tester. Thank you, Chairman Takano, and good 
morning. Welcome to the leadership of the Veterans of Foreign 
Wars, we are grateful to have you here today. And thank you to 
the leaders and advocates who will be joining us on today's 
second panel, I look forward to hearing from you.
    This is undoubtedly a critical and unprecedented time for 
our Nation, and for our Nation's veterans and their families. 
At the top of our challenges is this pandemic and getting shots 
into the arms of as many veterans as soon as possible. As 
chairman of the Senate Veterans' Committee, my focus is 
bolstering the vaccine supply chain and ensuring there is a 
system in place to efficiently and equitably distribute 
vaccines to everyone in the veterans community regardless of 
where they live, but we need your help in getting the word out 
to your fellow veterans that, when it is their turn to get a 
vaccine, they should get one. That is the only way that we are 
going to get beyond this pandemic, and get our communities and 
our economy back on track.
    Commander Roesch, thank you for all the work that you have 
done on behalf of veterans while serving as National Commander. 
I know that the VFW allowed the VA to use its facility in 
Libby, Montana to distribute COVID vaccines, and that is very 
much appreciated by all of us. We need to hear from you whether 
the VA is operating in a transparent manner as they execute 
legislative priorities, including the expansion of the 
caregivers program, the John Scott Hannon Mental Health 
Improvement Act, and the Deborah Sampson Act.
    For the second panel, I want to hear about how VA's 
numerous programs are affecting the members of your various 
organizations, veterans and survivors who are represented here 
today. Your testimony will cover a variety of issues vital to 
ensuring that we know what your priorities are to work on this 
year.
    Tell me what inequities minority veterans are facing when 
it comes to receiving VA services, and what the VA needs to do 
to improve survivor benefits, among many other issues.
    And I want to know how toxic exposure impacts your members. 
Last year, we worked hard to expand the presumptive list for 
Agent Orange-related conditions. Now I want to hear your ideas 
for how we can change the presumptive process to better serve 
our veterans.
    We are here to listen to you. The voice you and your 
members provide is an important source of information as we 
attempt to do right by all veterans. Welcome, again, and thank 
you for all that you and your organizations do on behalf of 
veterans and their families.
    With that, it is back to you, Chairman Takano.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Chairman Tester.
    Ranking Member Bost, I now recognize you for your opening 
remarks.

              OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MIKE BOST,
       RANKING MEMBER, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM ILLINOIS

    Mr. Bost. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    And good morning to everyone. And I want you to let you 
know how much of an honor it is to join Chairman Takano, 
Chairman Tester, and Ranking Member Moran in welcoming you here 
today for this hearing.
    You know, these hearings are one of the highlights of our 
work every year. They provide an important opportunity for us 
to learn from you all and from your organizations on what your 
priorities are. They also allow us to reflect on the critical 
work that we need to do each day to support our veterans.
    Although we cannot sit in the same room as we do in other 
years with our VSO leaders and your members from across the 
country--and I do want to say hi to all the Illinois members 
that are out there--but I am going to have faith by next year 
we will return to a traditional time of hosting these hearings 
in person. I am really looking forward to that opportunity to 
meet and greet each and every one of you. But, in the meantime, 
it is a privilege to participate in these hearings as the 
leader from the Republicans for the House Committee on 
Veterans' Affairs. I look forward to continuing to work through 
the procedures to improve the lives of veterans and their 
families.
    You know, I have said this before and I want to say it 
again to all of you here: I am committed to working with each 
and every one of you to find common ground and address the 
tough issues that affect our men and women of your 
organizations each day. My door is always open. You know, as 
was mentioned earlier, I am a Marine. My father and grandfather 
served, and my son and grandson are now serving. This work is 
deeply personal to me and my family, just as I know it is to 
you and your families as well.
    I do not take the responsibility of this role lightly. It 
is because of the support of organizations like yours that 
there have been so many positive changes underway in the VA in 
the last several years. I would like to take a moment, if I 
can, to thank each of you for your service both in and out of 
uniform. I have worked closely with your organizations in past 
Congresses and I would like to highlight a few organizations 
for their work.
    The Veterans of Foreign Wars was instrumental in shaping 
and advancing legislation to modernize the VA's appeals process 
and the Service Disability Veterans Insurance Program. The Gold 
Star Wives have worked tirelessly to advocate for those 
families of servicemembers who made the ultimate sacrifice.
    And to every group here, thank you for your great work in 
helping us to enact the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, MD, 
Veterans Health Care and Benefit Improvement Act of 2020.
    With your advocacy and input, we have enacted laws that 
delivered on our promises to veterans, but our work is not 
done. We must continue to build on changes that are underway. 
And, as ranking member, my priorities this Congress include 
overseeing VA's continued response to the COVID-19 pandemic; 
overseeing the implementation of recent legislation successes; 
creating a pathway to care and benefits for veterans exposed to 
burn pits and other toxic exposures; strengthening services for 
women veterans; preventing veteran suicide; improving the 
transition process; preserving veterans choice and increasing 
access to care; protecting veterans' Second Amendment rights; 
and modernizing the VA's outdated IT system.
    I am aware that this is an ambitious agenda, but I am sure 
that, working hand-in-hand, we can achieve great results, and I 
am looking forward to doing that.
    Again, thank you to each and every one of you for being 
here, and I look forward to hearing from you today.
    With that, I yield back.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Ranking Member Bost.
    Ranking Member Moran, you are now recognized for your 
opening remarks.

             OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JERRY MORAN,
            RANKING MEMBER, U.S. SENATOR FROM KANSAS

    Senator Moran. Chairman Takano and Ranking Member Bost, 
Chairman Tester, great to be with you again for a very valuable 
hearing. Welcome to everyone.
    Commander Roesch, thank you for your service to our country 
and to other veterans. I want to thank the Veterans of Foreign 
Wars and other VSOs, those on our second panel, for joining us 
in this format today to discuss all of your and your members' 
top priorities.
    I would also like to extend my gratitude to the veterans in 
Kansas and around the country who are watching and following 
our work closely today as we gather here by technology.
    I want to say thank you again to Mr. Shane Worley, the 
VFW's legislative advocate from Kansas and a fellow Jayhawk; as 
well as Mr. Herb Schwartzkopf, the quartermaster and adjutant 
for the Kansas VFW, for meeting with me just a few days ago to 
discuss their 2021 priorities of they and their fellow VFW 
members.
    I look forward to hearing from all of you today. I will be 
in and out just a bit as I have two other hearings going on at 
the same time, but I have read the testimony and I appreciate 
the things that you are conveying to these two committees, 
House and Senate.
    I am very grateful for your help. We have made significant 
accomplishments occur for veterans. Thirty one veterans bills 
were signed into law, including landmark mental health care 
legislation; education and disability benefit improvements; 
expansion of benefits for survivors; and enhanced overall 
resources for servicemembers, veterans, and their families.
    Now comes another very important part, not just passing 
legislation, but ensuring that those laws are faithfully 
executed and that they work, they work to improve the lives of 
our veterans. This is another phase where your advocacy is very 
critical.
    The members of your organizations are on the front line and 
they see firsthand where the VA is succeeding and sometimes 
where the VA still faces significant challenges, and your input 
is useful to us in trying to address these issues.
    Our highest priority right now, at least my highest 
priority right now is the health and economic safety of our 
veterans who have been affected by the pandemic, as the VA 
administers more vaccines across the country and returns to an 
operational, steady state. When I visited both the operation's 
vaccine sites in Wichita and Topeka, I saw some pretty 
impressive things. I ask that you keep us informed of the 
progress that you see taking place in combating the pandemic 
and protecting veterans and their family members' lives.
    I appreciate the legislation that Chairman Takano indicated 
had passed the House of Representatives in short order. That 
bill was amended to include the authorization for the VA to 
also vaccinate spouses of veterans, and it passed the United 
States Senate, where it will now reach--last night, last 
evening, and it will return back to the House to consider on 
amendment. It is the SAVE LIVES Act that Chairman Takano was 
rightfully highlighting. I was joined by Chairman Tester, and 
by Senator Blumenthal and Senator Boozman, in sponsoring that 
amendment.
    I know that you provide--you, all the veterans 
organizations, provide a real and needed voice to veterans and 
their beneficiaries. And I know that there are veterans who 
feel under-represented, unheard, and marginalized. You also 
provide an annual check for our committee to make certain that 
we are on the right track and that no veteran or their 
survivors fall through any gaps.
    While I was reading over the testimony, I noticed that we 
share a significant number of priorities; enhancement of 
suicide prevention and mental health care; addressing toxic 
exposure and improving women's health care at the VA; 
addressing the 90-10 loophole in a manner that is fair and 
reasonable to both student veterans and schools; as well as 
working toward a solution that veterans can receive their 
earned benefits both from DOD and the VA.
    You have my comment, I am certainly I speak for Chairman 
Tester and our committee members, that the Senate Veterans' 
Affairs Committee will continue to partner with you and the 
veteran community on addressing these priorities.
    I look forward to your presentations today. I know we have 
more work to do, but veteran voices are so critical to getting 
it right.
    And with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back to you, sir.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Ranking Member Moran.
    I would now like to welcome Mr. Hal Roesch, National 
Commander in Chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the 
United States. Accompanying Chief Roesch is Mr. Vincent ``BJ'' 
Lawrence, Executive Director of the VFW's Washington, DC. 
office.
    Mr. Lawrence, you are now recognized to introduce the VFW's 
leadership team.
    [Pause.]
    Chairman Takano. Mr. Lawrence, you might want to begin 
again. We are having trouble hearing you. I think you are still 
on mute. Can you pause for a moment?
    Mr. Lawrence. Can you hear me now, Mr. Chairman?
    Chairman Takano. I can hear you. Why don't you start again?
    Mr. Lawrence. I will. Our virtual world.

            INTRODUCTION BY VINCENT ``BJ'' LAWRENCE

    Again, good morning, Mr. Chairman. Joining me today is Mr. 
Pat Murray, he is our Director of National Legislative Service 
for the VFW. I am also joined by Mr. Ryan Gallucci, he is our 
Director of National Veterans Service.
    And watching live and representing the Veterans of Foreign 
Wars Auxiliary is our Auxiliary National President Sandi 
Onstwedder.
    I will now yield back to you, Mr. Chairman, for your 
continuation of introductions. Thank you.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Mr. Lawrence.
    I now recognize Representative Wittman. You are recognized 
to introduce Commander Roesch.

          INTRODUCTION BY THE HONORABLE ROBERT WITTMAN

    Mr. Wittman. All right, very good. Well, Chairman Takano, 
Chairman Tester, Ranking Members Bost and Moran, thanks again 
for the opportunity.
    And I am here to introduce a proud Virginian and a tireless 
advocate for servicemembers, veterans, and their families. Hal 
Roesch is from Hampton, Virginia. He was installed as the 112th 
Commander in Chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars on July 24th 
of 2020. Hal is a 20-year U.S. Air Force retiree, serving from 
1982 to 2002, and he earned his VFW eligibility during his 
combat service in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, 
and overseas service as part of Southern Watch.
    He first joined the VFW in 1991 in Sumpter, South Carolina. 
He later became Post Commander in Spring Lake, North Carolina, 
and he maintains his Gold Legacy life membership at VFW Post 
3219 in Phoebus, Virginia. He served in elected and appointed 
positions at every level in the VFW, from the post to the 
district to the department levels of the organization.
    He is currently a financial advisor with First Command 
Financial Planning. He received his Associate of Arts degree in 
avionic systems technology at the Community College of the Air 
Force, a great institution.
    He has one daughter and son-in-law, Sara and Jason Tricker, 
and two grandsons, Max and Owen, of great, great Virginia. He 
is married to his beautiful bride, Beth, and they now reside in 
Hampton, Virginia.
    He has spent the past year making sure the VFW has 
continued to do their important work even with the challenge of 
the COVID-19 pandemic. And, under Hal's leadership, the 
organization has continued to help in their local communities, 
aided those in need, and he is now providing space in 
communities for testing and vaccination sites.
    Hal has maintained this vision for veterans throughout his 
tenure as Commander in Chief and is honored to be able to 
present his vision here today.
    So, members of the two committees, I present to you the 
VFW's National Commander in Chief, Hal Roesch.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Representative Wittman.
    Commander Roesch, you are now recognized for your opening 
comments.
    Mr. Roesch. Thank you very much.

                            PANEL I

                              ----------                              


                 STATEMENT OF HAL J. ROESCH II,

            ACCOMPANIED BY VINCENT ``BJ'' LAWRENCE,

               PATRICK MURRAY; AND RYAN GALLUCCI

    Chairmans Tester and Takano, Ranking Members Moran and 
Bost, members of the Senate and House Committees on Veterans' 
Affairs, it is my honor to be with you today on behalf of the 
more than 1.6 million members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars 
and its Auxiliary, America's largest combat veterans' 
organization.
    I would like to begin by thanking the members of the 
committees for your clear vision for veterans in 2020. During a 
time of divisive partisanship, you worked across the aisle and 
across chambers to pass legislation to improve care and 
benefits for America's veterans and their families.
    We would equally like to thank you and your staffs for the 
bipartisan work to pass this year's National Defense 
Authorization Act; the Commander John Scott Hannon Mental 
Health Care Improvement Act; the COMPACT Act; the Johnny 
Isakson and David P. Roe Veterans Health Care and Benefits 
Improvement Act. These significant pieces of legislation will 
provide care and benefits for millions of veterans, it will 
allow for expanded care for veterans long overlooked, and 
hopefully save the lives of veterans who need help now more 
than ever.
    COVID-19 has hit this country hard. The veterans have felt 
the impact just like all of our fellow Americans. The VA health 
care system had to adapt to unseen enemy. COVID-19 wreaked 
havoc on veterans in their homes, at their jobs, and in their 
schools.
    Our Nation has fought this disease for over a year and, 
while the end may be in sight, we should learn from this 
devastating period in our history so we can come out stronger 
than ever.
    The VFW's top priority for the 117th Congress is 
comprehensive toxic exposure reform. Toxic exposure is a cross-
generational issue that affects every veteran who has ever worn 
the uniform. In World War I, troops were exposed to gas; in 
World War II, radiation; Vietnam, Agent Orange; in the Gulf 
War, it was oil fires; and in Iraq and Afghanistan they were 
exposed to burn pits and other environmental hazards.
    Toxic exposure for our troops has been synonymous with 
service for more than 100 years, but every time we are faced 
with it we act as if it has never happened before. A 
comprehensive system for taking care of our troops exposed to 
hazards is long past due. The VFW demands that Congress works 
in a bipartisan manner with the Veterans Service Organizations 
to develop a comprehensive solution for toxic exposure. We must 
create a framework that will take care of all past, present, 
and future generations of veterans, again, that is long 
overdue.
    First, the VFW recommends that a commission, independent 
from DOD and VA, be established to identify toxic and 
environmental exposures due to military service. Second, the 
VFW recommends that the National Academies of Sciences, 
Engineering and Medicine review and evaluate the available 
scientific evidence regarding certain diseases and exposure to 
toxic substances. Finally, the VFW believes Congress should 
require VA to grant a presumption of service connection for the 
conditions deemed to be associated with toxic exposure and 
environmental hazards.
    VFW past-Commander in Chief Larry Rivers provided 
congressional testimony on this very issue in 1990. During that 
hearing, Mr. Rivers observed that the pursuit of a perfect 
understanding, predicated upon scientific certainty, had 
stalled efforts to provide comprehensive benefits to veterans 
who were exposed to Agent Orange. To overcome this, Congress 
implemented a process for establishing a presumption of service 
connection based on a significant correlation between exposure 
and the onset of disease. Then, as now, we believe this 
represents a fair and compassionate solution to a complex 
problem.
    Next, the VFW wants to work with Congress to further 
improve veterans' claims processing. The VFW believes that a 
VFW claim is the gateway for care and benefits for every 
veteran. Over the last 2 years, the VFW has grown frustrated 
with the Veterans Benefits Administration and its abrupt, often 
arbitrary changes to the VA claims process.
    Thankfully, Congress listened to the VFW and our partners, 
and worked aggressively to hold the VA accountable, institute 
policy changes, and reinstate veteran-centric business 
practices. However, there is still more work to do.
    Countless veterans have benefited from the decades-old 48-
hour review policy. The VFW's rating review team routinely 
found errors during the review, correcting most of them in less 
than a business day. Since the VBA abruptly ended this process 
last year, veterans must now wait months, if not years, for the 
VA formal review process to fix minor errors. In recent weeks, 
the VBA leadership has come to the table with the VSOs to build 
a new notification and expedited review system.
    We are grateful for the progress, but if the VBA cannot 
follow through, our veterans will still need legislation to 
restore this critical review process.
    More still needs to be done to bring VA processing into the 
21st century, such as rebuilding the Stakeholder Enterprise 
Portal and upgrading va.gov. These actions will allow for more 
seamless delivery of care and benefits that our veterans 
rightly deserve.
    The VFW is also highly focused on quality economic 
opportunities for our veterans. COVID-19 has impacted the 
livelihood of countless veterans across this country, both in 
their careers and in their education. The VFW calls upon 
Congress to extend funding for existing programs, such as VET 
TEC and VR&E. The VFW believes all these programs should be 
available for the life of the veteran, not just for certain 
periods after service.
    Another concern of the VFW is closing the 90-10 loophole. 
We believe that this is the correct end goal; however, the VFW 
wouldn't want this loophole closure to negatively affect good 
schools simply because of tax status. That is why we recommend 
a waiver clause to be placed in any 90-10 GI Bill proposal to 
ensure good schools are not lumped in with predatory 
institutions.
    Additionally, members of the National Guard and Reserve 
must be credited for all activations in support of Federal 
service missions. When deployed to protect our border and to 
protect our Nation's Capitol, Congress had to pass emergency 
legislation to make sure these troops earn their education 
benefits. Congress must end this practice once and for all.
    Many of these economic opportunity programs fall under VBA 
to administer. The VFW believes VBA's organizational structure 
needs updating. The VFW proposes Congress create a fourth 
administration under the VA with its own under secretary who 
could refocus resources, provide a champion for these programs, 
and create that central point of contact for VSOs and Congress. 
We urge Congress to pass legislation that would establish a 
fourth administration in the VA to oversee these vital 
benefits.
    Lastly, the VFW would like to address the care and respect 
of all of our members, servicemembers, veterans, and families. 
While we believe there have been great strides made on behalf 
of those minority veterans we serve, we have also seen 
indications that we still have a ways to go. The VFW prides 
ourselves on treating and viewing all veterans equally, but we 
have seen that there are some who still do not receive the 
equitable treatment that they have earned and deserve. 
Underserved groups like women veterans, racial and ethnic 
minority veterans, and LGBTQ veterans deserve the same care and 
respect as everyone else, and it is the responsibility of all 
of us to ensure that happens.
    The VFW believes a first step to begin this process is to 
expand our knowledge. VA must consistently collect the correct 
race, ethnic, and sexual-orientation data in the electronic 
health records of veterans. Before we can begin to address 
inequalities among veterans, we need to fully be informed about 
the depth of our veterans population.
    Additionally, veterans need a safe and accepting place to 
receive the care they deserve. There is no room for 
discrimination or abuse within the walls of any VA facility, be 
it patients, family members, or employees. The VFW was 
disappointed to see this was not always the case in past years 
and vows to work with everyone involved to make sure veterans 
are never mistreated in any VA facility.
    We can do better; we owe it to all of our veterans to do 
better.
    Chairmans Tester and Takano, Ranking Members Moran and 
Bost, other distinguished members of these committees, speaking 
for all the members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and our 
Auxiliary, and on behalf of the millions of servicemembers, 
veterans, and their families around the world, I would like to 
thank you for your time and your attention to these critical 
issues. And I would expect, as members of these prestigious 
committees that in the coming years you retain a 20/20 vision 
for veterans.
    Thank you.

    [The prepared statement of Mr. Roesch appears on page 59 of 
the Appendix.]

    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Commander Roesch.
    I will begin with 3 minutes, recognizing myself. And I will 
begin my questioning, Commander, by asking the same question I 
asked the DAV and The American Legion a couple of weeks ago.
    On January 6th, Americans watched as insurgents stormed the 
U.S. Capitol. We later learned that current and former military 
personnel participated in the January 6th attack. Has the VFW 
taken actions or provided guidance to VFW's membership in 
response to those events?
    Mr. Roesch. We currently have policies and procedures in 
place within our organization that if we have members that have 
broken the law or discredit this organization that we can take 
measures to have them removed. We don't have a separate branch 
of the VFW to go out to specifically try to identify. We rely 
on the Department of Justice to provide us with that 
information and, if convicted, we will take swift action.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Commander.
    The House committee is working to ensure a more welcoming 
and inequitable VA for all veterans. I appreciate the remarks 
toward the end of your presentation. Can I count on your 
support as we work to ensure all veterans feel welcome at VA 
and in veteran spaces?
    Mr. Roesch. Absolutely. On July 24th, when I took the helm 
of the VFW, in my acceptance speech I made a comment to the VFW 
that extends our thought to the VA, which is everybody is 
treated with dignity and respect. And if you can't treat them 
with dignity and respect, we don't need you in the VFW. Turn in 
your cards and get out. We expect the same treatment in the VA 
system.
    Chairman Takano. That is wonderful to hear.
    Building on what you just told me, can you tell me some of 
the things that VFW is doing to ensure that all veterans feel 
welcome in your organization and your posts, and what steps do 
you think VA needs to do to prioritize--what should VA 
prioritize to ensure all veterans feel welcome? You mentioned 
some of them already such as the data.
    Mr. Roesch. From the VFW's standpoint, one of the first 
things I did with my senior vice, Fritz Mihelcic, and my junior 
vice, Tim Borland, is we established a diversity advisory group 
made up of all aspects of the civilian world that are now 
veterans, be it if they are LGBTQ, African Americans, Asians, 
you name it, we put them together to advise us of the needs of 
our members and to give us ideas to how to make this 
organization better.
    One of the things we are currently putting the final 
touches on is a hotline not just for discrimination, but 
harassment too, that allows an easy flow of information from 
problem areas to us. The VA needs to kind of have the same 
operation where if there is--it has to start at the ground 
level--if we see something in a VA that is not right, it 
doesn't necessarily always have to be the person that is being 
discriminated against to report it. We need to be confident 
enough that, if I see something in a VA, I can report it on 
behalf of somebody else.
    Communication is key to everything. If we lose the 
communication, we lose the fight. Open lines of communication 
without any push-back or repercussions is the way to go.
    Chairman Takano. Commander, I appreciate your answer, it 
went over, but I appreciate your answer.
    I want to now move on to Chairman Tester for his 3 minutes.
    Senator Tester. Well, thank you.
    And, Commander Roesch, thank you for your opening 
statement. I very much appreciate your leadership and the good 
work of your leadership team, it makes a difference.
    Look, getting shots in the arms is a top priority in this 
case for our veterans, it is really, really important. Ranking 
Member Moran and myself had a meeting with the rest of the 
folks in the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee not too long 
ago and we talked with VHA head Dr. Stone and learned about 
vaccine hesitancy being an issue among some veterans, 
particularly rural veterans.
    If we are going to get this pandemic behind us, get our 
economy back on track, and make sure our veterans are safe, the 
vaccine is really important. Can you tell me if the VFW has 
been able to--first of all, if they knew about this issue, 
number one, and, number two, if they are doing anything about 
it?
    Mr. Roesch. Yes, we are fully aware of this issue. One of 
the first things that you had mentioned on was we have put the 
word out to all of our VFW posts and had a great response to 
open up for testing and vaccination sites. We are out there in 
the rural areas. So we are opening our doors, the VA is 
accepting the invitations, and we are getting this done.
    I was lucky enough to get mine last week. I did a Facebook 
live, so it would go out to the VFW and other veterans that 
this is what we all need to do.
    Senator Tester. I know that toxic exposure is a top 
priority for the VFW and I very much appreciate that. It is a 
top priority for us too in the Senate Veterans' Affairs 
Committee. We are working on hypertension and MGUS, which I 
believe has a greater connection with Agent Orange than even 
the presumptives we added last year. Is that correct, to your 
knowledge?
    Mr. Roesch. It is.
    Senator Tester. Okay. And so, moving forward, you pointed 
out in your opening statement that this isn't the first time 
toxic exposure has been around with Agent Orange or the burn 
pits and it is probably not going to be the last, and you would 
like to see some sort of mechanism out there based on science 
so that the veterans have some sort of certainty, if they get 
these exposures, they will be covered. Is that pretty much 
correct from a VFW point of view?
    Mr. Roesch. Absolutely. We need a framework that is not 
part of the DOD or VA, that is separate, independent with the 
Academy, so we have the science, we have the medical, in 
conjunction with the VSOs, that will set the bar to where we 
have that scientific correlation. And we set the bar and 
anything above that needs to be recognized.
    Senator Tester. Well, we look forward to working with the 
VFW and other VSOs that are passionate about this issue to get 
this done.
    I want to talk a little bit about the caregivers program. 
We passed a bill to support the caregivers out there. I am just 
asking you very quickly, from your members' point of view, is 
this program being implemented at this moment in time and is it 
implemented adequately?
    Mr. Roesch. It is being implemented, we are glad that we 
have it. It is a little slow getting off the ground. Again, it 
is a communication problem. We have a lot of veterans out there 
that it is slow to get the word. They don't have internet, they 
don't have the computers, it is mail, seeing friends, and 
visiting the local VFWs to get their information.
    Senator Tester. Thank you, Commander Roesch. We appreciate 
the VFW.
    Thank you.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Chairman Tester.
    I call upon Ranking Member Bost for his 3 minutes.
    Mr. Bost. Thank you, Chairman.
    Thank you, Commander Roesch, for being here today. You 
know, apparently, if the VA appoints a veteran a fiduciary to 
help with their VA benefits, the VA also sends that veteran's 
name to the FBI's NICS list and, just like that, it is illegal 
for them to own a firearm, it is illegal for them to go hunting 
with their grandchildren or children.
    We know that some veterans are unwilling to go to the VA 
for benefits and care because of this policy. You know, this is 
an unacceptable policy and that is why I have introduced H.R. 
1217. The bill would prohibit the VA from continuing this 
practice unless there is an order from a judge or a magistrate 
that says the person may be a harm to themselves or others.
    Does the VFW support this legislation and, if so, why?
    Mr. Roesch. We do support this legislation. It is one thing 
if a veteran voluntarily gives up their weapons, but it is the 
Second Amendment. Any time we lose the right for us to have our 
guns, it needs to be done through the judicial side, not the 
medical side.
    Mr. Bost. That is correct. I'm glad you agree with that.
    You know, what are the most important and technological 
improvements that could be made in disability compensation 
claims processing, especially with automation the way it is?
    Mr. Roesch. There are several areas that we could go into 
that. I would like Mr. Gallucci, he is our boots on the ground 
when it comes to this, to chime in on this.
    Mr. Roesch. Thank you, Comrade Commander in Chief.
    There are many, many lessons that we were forced to learn 
over the last year due to COVID-19. Thankfully, the VFW was 
ready basically from day one for our advocates to provide 
virtual claims assistance.
    There are a number of tools that the Department of Veterans 
Affairs makes available to our advocates to do that, whether it 
is credentials for their IT systems or ways that our claims 
management databases can talk to VA. However, we have been 
stalled over the last few years in really reforming some of 
these systems. One of my favorite Commander in Chief Roesch 
mentioned in his testimony, Stakeholder Enterprise Portal. It 
is basically the service-provider side of eBenefits or va.gov 
moving forward.
    I think there is a lot of potential to Stakeholder 
Enterprise Portal for identify verification so that our service 
officers can provide assistance to veterans any time, anywhere. 
We are doing it today virtually, but we are doing it by any 
means necessary, leveraging the technology that we have at our 
disposal.
    We are really eager to come together with this committee 
and with Department of Veterans Affairs to reform some of these 
systems, and make sure that our service officers and our 
veterans have what they need to take advantage of the benefits 
they have earned.
    Mr. Bost. Thank you for that answer.
    And my time has almost expired, but before I yield back, 
Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to enter in the statement 
from the American Warrior Partnership into the record.
    Chairman Takano. Without objection, so ordered.
    Mr. Bost. Thank you. And I yield back.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Ranking Member Bost.
    I now call upon Ranking Member Moran for his 3 minutes of 
questioning.
    Senator Moran. Commander in Chief, thank you very much for 
your testimony. It caused me to look back at Kansas history to 
determine if I knew every VFW Commander in Chief from my own 
State and there have only been three. I did not know the one 
who served--Mr. Richards, who served in 1953, but John J. Stang 
and Norman G. Staab were long-time friends of mine, and I would 
utilize this moment to pay recognition and honor to those two 
veterans who served Kansas and America so well. So, thank you 
for causing me to look back at a moment in my life and in the 
life of the VFW in our State.
    I want to comment on a couple of things you said in your 
testimony. The 90-10 bill, we are working on it with Senators 
Carper, Cassidy, and Lankford, and it would address, as you 
recommend, your concerns about a fair waiver process. So the 
drafting that we are doing at the moment to get a good 90-10 
bill includes the waiver that you recommend.
    And, additionally, the GI Bill parity for the National 
Guard that you said was needed is a bill that we are attempting 
to draft now. We are working with the Department of Defense and 
the VA on technical assistance to get a bill in place that 
eliminates the disparity between Guard and active duty.
    So, thank you for highlighting those two issues and giving 
me an opportunity to tell my colleagues that we are following 
your instructions and leadership.
    I would also like to thank the VFW for working with us in 
the past year to craft emergency solutions that we were able to 
swiftly pass into law to protect student veterans and their 
families during the pandemic. And I also thank the VFW for 
supporting our efforts to pass legislation to reduce veteran 
unemployment through a rapid retraining program. Those items 
became legislation, they became law, and were passed due to the 
COVID-19 and with your help.
    And then, finally, your toxic exposure high priority, I 
think our committee shares that. You mentioned, highlight the 
importance of an independent commission. Would you please speak 
to the importance of that commission within what I hope is an 
enduring framework, not ad hoc, but something that creates a 
framework that endures that directs the VA's decisions in 
regard to exposures?
    Mr. Roesch. Sure. I would like to have Mr. Murray, he is 
our boots on the ground with that one, so if he would be so 
kind.
    Senator Moran. Thank you, Commander.
    Mr. Murray. Mr. Ranking Member, our recommendation of an 
independent commission is to set up outside of VA and DOD to 
look at this differently, so that it is not incumbent upon the 
entities that are going to provide care will be the ones 
determining what exactly is needed. We want to reestablish a 
framework, very similar to the Agent Orange Act of 1990, that 
is driven by the National Academies and provides a presumption 
of exposure for toxic exposure. We want that to be 
reimplemented for different toxic exposures without a sunset 
date, so that all veterans in any future conflicts won't have 
to keep coming back to the table as we do seemingly year after 
year for every new group of veterans that are exposed due to 
their service.
    Senator Moran. Thank you, sir.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Ranking Member Moran.
    I now call on Representative Brownley, who chairs the House 
Subcommittee on Health for the Veterans' Affairs Committee.
    Ms. Brownley, go ahead for your 3 minutes.

                      HON. JULIA BROWNLEY,
              U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM CALIFORNIA

    Ms. Brownley. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    And thank you, Commander Roesch, for being here, for your 
service to our country, and certainly your leadership service. 
As we speak, I wanted to mention that my father and his side of 
the family, my father being a former Marine, is from the 
Hampton, Virginia area. So I know that area and where you live 
quite well. So, thanks for being here.
    I appreciate your support and VFW's support of the passage 
of the Deborah Sampson Act that passed in the last Congress, I 
appreciate that very much, and look forward to its full 
implementation as we move forward in the 117th Congress.
    I also appreciate you mentioning in your written testimony 
in terms of looking ahead your support of two of my bills, one 
the Equal Access to Contraception Act, and also the Women 
Veterans Trust Act, which would analyze the need for long-term 
residential treatment programs for drug and alcohol dependency, 
particularly for women veterans.
    And one bill that you didn't mention that I am hoping that 
you might take a look at is my bill on the Homeless Veterans 
with Children Reintegration Act, which would direct the 
Department of Labor to prioritize veterans with children in its 
reintegration program. And so if you could maybe comment on 
that issue and, you know, reassure me that you will take a hard 
look in supporting this bill.
    Mr. Roesch. Well, actually, I will turn it over to Mr. 
Murray, who is our Legislative Director.
    Mr. Murray. Ma'am, childcare for veterans across the 
spectrum is very important for the VFW, whether it is homeless 
veterans, whether it is women veterans, whether they are 
looking to return to the workforce, also including student 
veterans. Childcare is a very important thing that having that 
burden taken off their shoulders is vital for veterans.
    I promise you we will take a look at that bill and make 
sure that we are communicating with your office, and see if we 
can lend our support to that.
    Ms. Brownley. Thank you very much.
    And I only have a few more seconds, but, Commander, I was 
wondering if you were aware of the current backlog at the 
National Personnel Records Center and, if so, if you could 
share with us its impact, if it is having any impact on your 
membership.
    Mr. Roesch. Absolutely. Unfortunately, due to COVID, 
everybody has got a backlog, but that is a vital institution 
that we need for our veterans to be able to get records. And, 
you know, we are just going to have to tackle these head-on and 
it is probably going to involve some staffing increases, which 
is going to be we are going to have to put some money in it.
    Ms. Brownley. Thank you for that.
    And, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Representative Brownley.
    I now call on Senator Hassan for 3 minutes.

                   HON. MARGARET WOOD HASSAN,
                U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE

    Senator Hassan. Well, thank you very much to Chair Tester 
and Ranking Member Moran, to Chairman Takano and Ranking Member 
Bost, for holding these presentations. Thank you to all of our 
witnesses for being here today and for the service that you 
provide to our Nation's veterans.
    In speaking with members of Veterans Service Organizations 
in New Hampshire during the past year, I have been amazed, but 
not at all surprised, by the ingenuity and adaptability that 
they have shown in their efforts to continue supporting and 
serving Granite State veterans during this pandemic.
    To our witnesses today, the work that you and your 
organizations have done to help veterans during one of the most 
difficult periods in our country's history is incredibly 
important and it deserves to be recognized. And that is why I 
am announcing today that I will be introducing a resolution to 
recognize the tremendous services that all Veterans Service 
Organizations have provided during the pandemic to support 
veterans and their families throughout these challenging times. 
I would welcome support from all members of this committee and 
my other Senate colleagues on this resolution.
    I do have one question for Mr. Roesch. Mr. Roesch, in your 
written testimony you support the idea of Congress creating a 
fourth administration at the VA to focus solely on economic and 
education programs. As you may know, I worked with Senator 
Rubio to introduce the VET OPP Act last Congress to create such 
an administration, and we will be reintroducing this 
bipartisan, bicameral bill again in the coming weeks. Right 
now, these economic and education programs fall under the 
Secretary for Benefits, which also oversees the disability and 
compensation process.
    Mr. Roesch, can you describe why we need a separate 
administration to focus on these programs?
    Mr. Roesch. We did. The VBA is getting so many programs, it 
is the old adage of, you know, you can have a bunch of 
technicians, but you have no experts. And by separating them, 
it will allow it to still have the technicians, but then have 
the experts to refocus and retool those that benefit the 
veterans at the end. It is definitely something that is needed. 
Mr. Murray has been working that.
    Mr. Murray, do you have any comments on that?
    Mr. Murray. Thank you, Committee in Chief.
    Senator, we did support the VET OPP Act last Congress; when 
it is introduced, we will support it again.
    The VFW believes that the economic opportunity programs 
under VBA's purview deserve the full attention that they need. 
C&P right now dominates VBA, as it should, because it also 
deserves its own unique attention. We believe that separating 
the two will give a unique under secretary the ability to truly 
advance both of those categories of programs.
    Senator Hassan. Thank you so much. I think it would be a 
win-win for the country and for veterans.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Senator Hassan.
    I now recognize Representative Nehls for 3 minutes.
    Representative Nehls, your mike is not turned on. If you 
would just--Representative Nehls, we need to get your mike 
turned on. There it goes.
    [Pause.]
    Chairman Takano. Why don't you try now, sir? No, it is 
still not working.
    Technical team, can we get Mr. Nehls' microphone turned on?
    Okay. Mr. Nehls, we will work on getting your mike turned 
on. In the meantime, Mr. Lamb, are you prepared to--Mr. Lamb, 
are you ready?
    Mr. Lamb. Yes, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
    Chairman Takano. Why don't we go to you, Mr. Lamb.

                        HON. CONOR LAMB,
             U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM PENNSYLVANIA

    Mr. Lamb. I want to thank all of our witnesses from the VFW 
for joining us today, for all the work that you do, and I want 
to echo Ms. Brownley in saying I know that the personnel 
records issue has been a very frustrating one for a lot of your 
members throughout the year. I have been working on it, 
including with the Administration, and we are hoping for some 
good news on that soon. So I just wanted to let you know that 
it is at the highest point on my agenda and we really are 
working for a breakthrough there.
    I wanted to return to the topic of January 6th. And I feel 
very strongly that it is our job collectively all as veterans, 
whether Democrat, Republican, or nothing at all, to police our 
own on this one. That was the seat of our national government 
established in the Constitution that was attacked and we all 
swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. And so I 
think that may require everybody taking some active measures to 
determine what was at the root of this and to ensure that it 
doesn't happen again.
    And I know you have addressed already with the Chairman 
following the list of names of people who have been indicted 
and prosecuted, and I think that is a great thing, but I also 
would encourage you to consider active measures related to the 
use of VFW facilities around the country as meeting places or 
gathering places for these particular groups.
    The VFW in particular was actually mentioned in a report in 
the Atlantic magazine in November. The article I think was 
called ``Inside the Right-Wing Militia.'' But the founder of 
the Oath Keepers, Stuart Rhodes, held a meeting in a VFW 
outside of Nashville in July of last summer, and it is quoted 
and described in the article.
    And so my question is a brief one, it is really more of an 
encouragement looking forward, but I was curious if you have 
any policies in place now that advise your local chapters about 
the use of their facilities with respect to a group like the 
Oath Keepers that has actually declared civil war on our 
government. And, if you don't have any of those policies, are 
you considering advising your local chapters in the future?
    Mr. Roesch. Yes, we do have policies and procedures in 
place, again, against anything that brings discredit upon our 
organization and the Constitution, for that matter.
    What we have found is we have had some groups that have 
used some VFW halls in the past under the guise of ``I am just 
a member and I want to have some guys come in and have a 
meeting.'' Once it was--we realized and the posts realized what 
was really going on, it was immediately shut down. 
Unfortunately, they got the sound bite, they got the picture, 
and we have had others that have used it without ever being in 
a VFW post that we have sent out cease-and-desist letters to 
them. We don't condone it, we don't allow it in our posts.
    And we police from the post up, if you will, and they are 
getting better at it. Most of those are just somebody trying to 
do the right thing that turns out not to be what we thought.
    Mr. Lamb. I appreciate that, sir. And I just encourage you 
to continue to try to refine those policies as much as 
possible, especially as we learn of particular groups like the 
Oath Keepers that have identifiable logos and personnel that 
are easier to spot. So it is not as if you are discriminating 
based on views, but on particular organizations that have 
actually declared war against our country.
    And with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Representative Lamb.
    I now call on Mr. Nehls in the hope that his microphone 
works. Mr. Nehls?
    Mr. Nehls. Chairman Takano, can you hear me?
    Chairman Takano. I can. And are you wearing a VFW hat, sir?

                        HON. TROY NEHLS,
                 U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM TEXAS

    Mr. Nehls. I am. Chairman Takano and Tester, thank you for 
your leadership, as well as Ranking Members Bost and Moran, for 
what you do every day.
    And, Commander Roesch, thank you for your service. And 
earlier you mentioned that Sandi, the National Commander for 
the Ladies Auxiliary, is on with us. And I have to tell you, as 
a former post commander, I truly understand firsthand just how 
important Ladies Auxiliaries are to posts around the country 
because they--I always said they keep the men straight in these 
posts, but I want to thank Sandi for her service as well to our 
veterans.
    And I do, sir, I proudly wear my VFW cap today to show 
support to the VFW, my most beloved organization. And I 
received my All American Post Commander hat from National 
Commander Raymond Sisk back in 2002. Sir, I don't know if you 
knew Commander Sisk, but what a great American and what a great 
leader, and it was a very proud moment for me back in 2002 to 
receive my hat from him.
    And, you know, Chairman Tester mentioned the VFWs opening 
their posts for vaccines and my home post, 3903 in Rosenberg, 
Texas, last weekend, I was there on Saturday, and the veterans 
were lined up. Hundreds of veterans received their first 
vaccination last Saturday and I am proud to say that they will 
be coming back again in the 21 days or so to receive their 
second. So I know there are posts out there doing what they can 
to help with this COVID pandemic.
    But my question is more geared toward mental health. I am 
passionate about mental health, mental illness, and it sickens 
me to every day, and while we are on this presentation here, 
the number of veterans that will just take their lives. So what 
are we doing? I know that legislation has been passed for 
suicide prevention, but we still are seeing veterans, 14 a day, 
taking their lives that have not received that VA care 2 years 
prior to death. So what are we doing to make sure that we can 
stop this? This needs to be zero, Commander, zero.
    Mr. Roesch. We absolutely agree with that goal number, zero 
is the way to go. Congratulations on that cap, by the way. We 
don't give those away very easily, that was earned.
    Mr. Gallucci is our expert in this area and I would like to 
have him address that question.
    Mr. Gallucci. Thank you, Comrade Commander in Chief. And 
this is something that the VFW has been extremely passionate 
about over the last few years. Our Executive Director BJ 
Lawrence had joined us when we kicked off our mental wellness 
campaign with our partners, Give an Hour, and some others just 
a few years back. What we have been doing is aggressively 
training our service officers, our members to be agents of 
change in their community.
    Look, there is only so much that VA can do, but there is a 
lot that we can do as veterans in our community. Before this 
hearing, we all took our ``Know the five signs of emotional 
suffering'' cards that our partners at Given an Hour developed 
with us, these have been an important tool at our posts to 
really remind our members how to have a difficult conversation 
with one of our comrades. Beyond that, we have trained our 
service officers in understanding the emotional suffering, 
social determinants of health, to make sure that when they are 
meeting with veteran, if they are having trouble, that they 
know what to say and how to handle it.
    But beyond that, VA needs to open its aperture in how they 
evaluate veteran suicide and understanding social determinants 
of health. We know many times it is not just a mental health 
condition that can make a veteran want to harm themselves; it 
can be lack of housing, lack of a job, it can be a denied VA 
benefit claim. We believe the VA has this data to better 
understand what is happening in the veterans community if they 
just look at Veterans Benefits Administration and we encourage 
them to do that moving forward for their reports on suicide 
prevention.
    Mr. Nehls. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Blessings.
    Thank you, Chairman Takano.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Representative Nehls.
    I now call on Senator Boozman for his 3 minutes.

                       HON. JOHN BOOZMAN,
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM ARKANSAS

    Senator Boozman. Thank you, Mr. Chairmans and our ranking 
members for, again, having the hearing today.
    We have accomplished so much in the last several years 
through the committee, but more importantly we simply wouldn't 
have gotten that day without the help of our Veterans Service 
Organizations and the great work that you do. And I also will 
give a shout-out to the Auxiliaries. I always talk about them 
being the backbone of the organization. My wife and three 
daughters correct me and also say they are brains of the 
organization. So we really do appreciate you very, very much.
    Mr. Roesch, in your full testimony you stated that Agent 
Orange was sprayed on bases in Thailand during the war in 
Vietnam. I was made aware of this issue a few years ago by 
Arkansas veteran Bill Rose who served in Thailand during the 
Vietnam war. He had his VA claims denied after developing 
several illnesses linked to toxic herbicide exposure. Last 
week, Senator Tester and I reintroduced a bill that will modify 
the presumption of service connection for veterans who served 
in Thailand.
    Mr. Roesch, can you briefly speak about your experience 
with veterans like Mr. Rose who served in Thailand, and address 
the importance of passing this language?
    Mr. Roesch. Our job is to take care of all veterans, and 
that being past, present, and future veterans. We are very much 
aware of the fact that Agent Orange has a much greater reach 
than we originally were willing to recognize. There is the data 
now, wherever it is, it needs to be recognized to get over that 
bar that is set to recognize it.
    Mr. Murray has been working diligently on this. I would 
like to have a couple minutes just for him to touch on that.
    Mr. Murray. Thank you, Commander in Chief.
    Senator Boozman, that is a great example of what we are 
talking about, having to keep coming back and piecemealing the 
different toxic exposure pieces. The veterans in Thailand 
specifically were only granted presumption of service if they 
were guarding the perimeter of the bases where the Agent Orange 
was sprayed. To suggest that someone who was walking down that 
perimeter or it might have sprayed downwind, or also going into 
the drinking water like in Vietnam, it is absurd to think that 
Agent Orange, such a dangerous chemical, was so specific.
    But that is why we want a framework in place, so that we 
don't keep coming back to address Agent Orange Thailand, or 
folks in Guam or the Enewetak Atoll radiation experiments, or 
the K2 veterans, or anybody around the world who was exposed to 
dangers due to their service.
    Senator Boozman. Well, thank you for that, and we do 
appreciate, again, the grassroots effort, as you say, so that 
we could quit piecemealing these things as we go forward.
    This also is a great example of, again, the VSOs' 
membership coming forward, expressing concerns to us, and then 
all of us working together to try and fix some of these things.
    So, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Senator.
    Senator Blumenthal, you are recognized for 3 minutes.

                    HON. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL,
                 U.S. SENATOR FROM CONNECTICUT

    Senator Blumenthal. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, thank 
you to you and to Senator Tester for having this hearing.
    And to all of the members of the VFW who are here today, 
your service to our Nation is really beyond words and I want to 
express my gratitude and my family's. Two of my sons have 
served, one as a Marine Corps infantry officer in Afghanistan, 
the other as a Navy Seal, and I really appreciate all you do 
for the veterans of our great nation.
    I want to express my particular thanks for your emphasis on 
toxic exposures, your testimony is so powerful on burn pits, 
Agent Orange, K2. I want to express my particular appreciation 
for my legislation, your support for the K2 Veterans Care Act. 
As you know, veterans associated with Karshi Khanabad Air Base, 
also known as K2, have suffered from the effects of these 
toxins, cancer, other diseases over the year. We need to go 
beyond what we did during the last Congress and your support I 
think will be really instrumental.
    I want to focus on an area that really is so immediately 
important and that is the potential for vaccine hesitancy among 
our veterans and what the VFW can do more and better, And what 
we in the Congress can do more and better to overcome that 
hesitancy. You know, our veterans are aware more than any other 
community in our country how important it is to help each other 
and they should know that the safety of each of us depends on 
the safety of all of us.
    So let me ask you how our community of veterans can better 
help each other to understand the need for everybody to be 
vaccinated?
    Mr. Roesch. It all starts with communication. We have to be 
able to have clear lines of communication and get rid of the 
clutter that is out there. Frustration drives a lot of it in 
the fact that VAs across the country, one may be doing 65 and 
above, and the other are doing 50 and above, and they don't 
know if they are supposed to go, where they are supposed to go. 
So communication has got to be the key.
    We also have to, as I did last week, when I got my 
vaccination, we went on Facebook live. And it wasn't just 
myself, it was the State Commander, the senior vice, and the 
adjutant of the Department of Massachusetts, we all got our 
vaccinations and shared with the veteran community how easy it 
was, efficient it was, and then went back and said, hey, it is 
day one, no side effects; day two, zero side effects. So it is 
the communication there.
    It is also the stigma of the veterans, they got more than 
their fair of shots while they were in the military. Some we 
knew what we got, some we didn't know what we were getting, and 
the effects that those are going to have. We are always going 
to have that little bit of hesitancy, but just as, you know, 
peer pressure is great, the more of us that get it, the more of 
us that will want it. And I think that is going to be the key 
to get over that hump.
    Senator Blumenthal. That is great. And I would note the VA 
in Connecticut is providing vaccinations to every veteran, 
literally every veteran, regardless of age, regardless of 
enrollment in the VA health care system, and I would suggest it 
is a model for the country. But your answer is very, very 
helpful. Thank you.
    Thanks, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Senator Blumenthal.
    Representative Rosendale, I recognize you for 3 minutes.

                    HON. MATTHEW ROSENDALE,
                U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM MONTANA

    Mr. Rosendale. Thank you, Chairman Takano and Chairman 
Tester, Ranking Members Bost and Moran, for holding this 
hearing today, and all the Veterans Service Organizations that 
are participating here today.
    I also want to thank every veteran that is online and 
listening to us as we hold this hearing for your service to our 
Nation.
    Commander Roesch, I want to frame my question, it is 
actually--it is two parts, and it is going to be about 
telemedicine, telehealth. We saw a tremendous expansion of 
telehealth and telemedicine during the pandemic period here, 
and what I am trying to drill down into is, how many folks of 
your members were utilizing this out of necessity because they 
either tested positive for COVID or had concerns about 
contracting COVID, and how many of your members were--and, 
obviously, you are not going to have exact numbers, but how 
many of your members were utilizing these services just because 
of the ease with which they discovered that they could get the 
medical attention they wanted, whether it was just for 
counseling or whether it was for actual medical treatment.
    And then, in addition to that, I am trying to figure out 
what policies do we need to make permanent and which ones have 
been overlooked that we need to implement, so that we can fully 
utilize telehealth as we are seeing it as really a big benefit, 
especially to extremely rural States like Montana.
    Thank you.
    Mr. Roesch. Thanks for the question. It is a pretty broad 
number and, as you said, we don't have specific numbers, but 
Mr. Gallucci has been working that almost every day through 
this entire pandemic, and I would like to get his insight on 
that.
    Mr. Rosendale. Thank you.
    Mr. Gallucci. Thank you. Thank you, Comrade Commander in 
Chief.
    And thank you, Congressman Rosendale, for bringing 
attention to the issue of telehealth. What we learned during 
COVID-19 is that telehealth, we have often thought of it as a 
tool to better connect rural veterans, but VA was forced to 
connect everybody, again forced to innovate through COVID-19. 
What I am excited to talk about is you asked about numbers of 
our members who have utilized telehealth during the pandemic. 
Our teams are working on launching another survey in the coming 
weeks that would better evaluate that. We have done a series of 
health care surveys over the years that talk about veterans' 
access to care and we have added telehealth to that question. 
So, hopefully in the near future, we will have some quality 
data for you.
    But I will tell you, I used telehealth myself throughout 
the pandemic, I know a number of veterans who have, especially 
when you don't need to physically be present with a doctor.
    But what I will tell you that we are very excited about, 
programs like Project Atlas. And I know that our inaugural 
Project Atlas site was in Eureka, Montana. VFW's leadership was 
able to go there to observe its opening and we are proud to 
have seen a number of patients through Eureka who have seen 
very positive outcomes with being able to access telehealth 
from the VFW post. We have identified five pilot sites and we 
expect all five of them to be operational within the coming 
months thanks to our partners at Philips and Department of 
Veterans Affairs.
    One of the important facets here is not--especially for 
highly rural veterans, they may not have broadband access, and 
that is where a hub like a VFW post can be incredibly helpful 
to making sure they have access to their care.
    Mr. Rosendale. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Gallucci. And any 
additional information or obstacles that you find, if you could 
share with us, that would be great.
    Thank you, Mr. Chair. I yield back.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Representative Rosendale.
    Senator Tillis, you are recognized for 3 minutes.
    Senator Tillis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Can you hear me?
    Chairman Takano. I can, sir. We can hear you.

                       HON. THOM TILLIS,
                U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH CAROLINA

    Senator Tillis. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, my 
compliments on the coordination of the committee. You guys do a 
great job.
    And, Commander, it is great to see you and hear you. I was 
there to hear your opening statements. I want to get back to 
your focus on toxic exposures. Next week, I intend to 
reintroduce the TEAM Act, and I am happy to report that Senator 
Hassan will be joining me on that as the lead cosponsor. I 
believe that many of the things that you listed as priorities 
is embodied in the TEAM Act; I appreciate the VFW for endorsing 
it.
    I understand that probably over the next week we will get 
another signed letter of endorsement from your organization, is 
that correct?
    Mr. Roesch. Correct.
    Senator Tillis. Mr. Chairman, if the record is going to be 
held open for a week, I would like to get consent to 
potentially add that letter and submit it for the record, if it 
comes before the record is closed for this hearing.
    Chairman Takano. Without objection, so ordered.
    Senator Tillis. Commander, I also want to thank you for 
your service as VFW 4542 in Spring Lake Commander back in the 
day. I know you have moved north of the border, maybe we can 
get you back sooner or later. But I look forward to working 
with you all.
    I think the TEAM Act--what I really want to talk about, I 
am very hopeful--I want to thank Chairman Tester and Ranking 
Member Moran for their support in moving the TEAM Act out of 
committee last year. I am very optimistic that we can work 
together, maybe add some other provisions, but then I want to 
be forward-thinking.
    You said something in your opening statement that I think 
is very important. This is going to provide I think a better 
baseline, but I still feel very strongly we need to work on 
capturing data and increasing our situational awareness. And 
recording that information in the electronic health record of 
an active duty servicemember, so that we can really get to a 
point to where we can predict--when a servicemember transitions 
out of active status, we can predict the potential exposure and 
risk, and potentially get them access to resources before any 
particular illness has been encountered.
    So, after we make work and get the work done on the TEAM 
Act, I want to work with you all, the VFW and the TEAM 
coalition, to figure out what we can do to even get more 
advanced in our thinking, and hopefully more advanced in 
reducing the exposure to toxins on the battlefield or in 
connection with service. Is that something I can get your 
commitment on?
    Mr. Roesch. Absolutely.
    Senator Tillis. Well, I thank you all for your service. I 
know we have a couple of other members here. I have been 
looking up at the screen because, Commander, I like you better 
on my 90-inch television, you are smiling big there. It is 
always good to see you. Thank you for your leadership.
    And thank all of you for your past and current and future 
service. God bless.
    I yield back.
    Chairman Takano. Senator Tillis, I thank you for your kind 
words about our work at the committee.
    I now call on Representative Levin for 3 minutes.

                        HON. MIKE LEVIN,
              U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM CALIFORNIA

    Mr. Levin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Commander, thanks so much for joining us today. Thanks for 
all of your work on behalf of veterans across our country.
    I want to give a special shout-out to the VFW posts in 
Oceanside and Dana Point, California, in my district. They do 
an absolutely fantastic job serving our veterans.
    Commander, I have the honor to serve as chair of the 
Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, and I share several of 
the economic priorities that you offered in your testimony, 
such as creating a fourth administration at VA. I was thrilled 
to hear Senator Hassan mention our bicameral, bipartisan 
efforts there. Overhauling the IT systems that deliver 
education benefits, and creating parity between active and 
Reserve component education benefits.
    On that last item, I was glad to reintroduce the Guard and 
Reserve GI Bill Parity Act last week, along with Chairman 
Takano, Representative Palazzo, and Representative Mace. The 
need for parity is especially relevant right now as thousands 
of our National Guard remain deployed here at the Capitol. 
These troops are relying on a declaration of national emergency 
that President Bush signed after 9/11, almost 20 years ago, in 
order to qualify for GI Bill benefits.
    And this is just one of many examples we have seen in 
recent years that demonstrate how the statute determining GI 
Bill eligibility hasn't kept up with the evolution of our 
military.
    So, Commander, I would like to ask you, what changes have 
you seen in utilization of the Reserve component change over 
time?
    Mr. Roesch. Well, we have integrated our Guard and Reserve 
into our active duty component to form a seamless team. And 
they are a little different than the active duty and a lot of 
those are--as we say, have real lives outside of the military 
for most of the time and we yank them out, we bring them in, 
and we say this is your mission to do, and we don't give them 
all the benefits that we give the ones that are doing the exact 
same job every day, and that can't be.
    If we are going to ask them to do the job, we have to be 
able to give them the benefits that they deserve for doing that 
job.
    Mr. Levin. Thanks, Commander.
    Can you speak to the impact that full benefit parity would 
have on our military readiness and how it would affect veterans 
themselves?
    Mr. Roesch. Sure, I could--I would love to get into that, 
but Mr. Murray is my expert on that, and I can't bring him all 
the way down here and not get to say some words on that.
    Mr. Murray. Thank you, Commander in Chief.
    Mr. Levin, thank you very much for bringing attention to 
that. We believe that full parity of benefits for every day 
that is served on active duty would help increase recruitment, 
we think that it would help bolster our Reserve component.
    Our National Guard has been stretched very thin in the past 
20 years. They have been asked to do a whole lot more than the 
traditional 2 days a month, 1 week a year. Our National Guard 
is performing incredible services all around this country and 
they deserve to be honored with the benefits and care they 
deserve.
    Mr. Levin. Thanks so much, Mr. Murray. We appreciate you 
very much, everyone.
    And I will yield back, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Representative Levin.
    Senator Manchin, I recognize you for 3 minutes.

                       HON. JOE MANCHIN,
                U.S. SENATOR FROM WEST VIRGINIA

    Senator Manchin. Thank you, Chairman Takano.
    And thank you, Commander Roesch, and everything that the 
veterans do for all of us, because West Virginia, as you know, 
is a highly populated veterans State. I like to say that we are 
one of the most patriotic States in the Nation. But we really, 
really appreciate the services that you all give and watching 
over them.
    So our brave servicemembers deployed all around the world, 
often in harsh conditions, as you know. History has shown that 
even after surviving combat or hazardous duty, veterans come 
home having been exposed to toxicants that end up leading to 
long-term health issues. While we need to do everything we can 
to minimize exposure in the first place, there is no excuse for 
us delaying care and benefits for those exposed, which is why 
Senator Sullivan and I have introduced--reintroduced S. 437, 
the Veterans Burn Pits Exposure Act of 2021.
    Sir, we sure could use a letter of support on that and we 
would hope that you all would use the weight of all of the 
veterans to support this piece of legislation, because it is so 
needed.
    Mr. Roesch. We are on board and we would be happy to 
provide you with that.
    Senator Manchin. Thank you, sir.
    And also, as you know--this is to all the witnesses there--
as you know, the VA is making concerted efforts to expand 
telehealth initiatives and options. On one hand, I encouraged 
to see the VA provide more options for appointments, especially 
for veterans in West Virginia who have to travel some of our 
famously beautiful rural roads, mountainous roads, as we deal 
with COVID-19; however, I do have some concerns for two 
reasons.
    For one, telehealth appointments require broadband speeds 
of at least 25 megabytes per second, and that is just not there 
for many West Virginians in rural areas. And, two veterans are 
now having to adapt to a new online travel reimbursement 
process, which is a tough transition for some of our older 
veterans or those with limited access to broadband.
    So, in your assessment, what can the VA do to ensure 
telehealth is available to all veterans who prefer it, and how 
can we help our older veterans stay connected with the 
resources they expect, especially with travel?
    Mr. Roesch. I would turn it over to Mr. Gallucci to answer 
that. He has been working that pretty diligently.
    Senator Manchin. Thank you, sir.
    Mr. Gallucci. Thank you, Comrade Commander in Chief, and 
thank you, Senator.
    This is a major issue that the VFW has been concerned about 
for quite some time. It is absolutely correct that once you are 
outside the D.C. metro area you start to hit some broadband 
deserts. I am very concerned, the VFW is very concerned that 
this--it has the potential to become a health equity issue, 
especially when you are talking about access to beneficiary 
travel. This is a concern that was recently brought up to us 
from our service officers in Arkansas and--well, to be frank, 
from all around the country--and what we found is that the 
veterans who may need it the most are the least likely to be 
able to take advantage of the new online system.
    We can't be processing electronic claims in favor of claims 
that are processed, I guess, the old way, paper-based claims; 
we are very concerned that that is happening. And although 
online resources, telehealth, are a great tool, they are 
absolutely no supplement, especially for a veterans population 
that is generally older than the civilian population, more 
likely to live in a rural area that doesn't have broadband 
access. So you are going to need to find innovative ways to 
address that.
    I think one of them is a model like Project Atlas, which 
utilizes community hubs like VFW posts, where if veterans don't 
have broadband access in their homes they can go to a hub to 
find broadband access to take advantage of those resources. The 
sites that we have up and running are very innovative. It is 
more than just like a phone consultation like you would have 
with a provider. They have things like blood pressure cuffs, 
they can check your vitals, they can check your body 
temperature, and do much more than a video conference.
    Senator Manchin. I'm going to have to--I think my chairman 
is getting a little bit antsy there and I don't blame him, I am 
going over our time. But I would like to follow up with you in 
my office. And, again, I want to thank you.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am very sorry. I yield back my 
time.
    And I want to thank and God bless every veteran for all 
they do and what they have done for us.
    Chairman Takano. I appreciate that, Senator Manchin. My 
body language was not about antsy-ness, but I do appreciate 
your courtesy.
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Manchin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I understand.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you.
    Senator Manchin. My buddy John Tester would have jumped in 
anyway for you.
    Chairman Takano. Well, you know, I am glad you are stopping 
speeches that go on too long, but it is a little joke there.
    Senator Manchin. That is good information, though. Thank 
you.
    Chairman Takano. All right. Representative Radewagen, I 
recognize you for 3 minutes, and talofa.

              HON. AUMUA AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN,
            U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM AMERICAN SAMOA

    Mrs. Radewagen. Talofa. Thank you, Chairman Takano, 
Chairman Tester, and Ranking Members Moran and Bost for holding 
this series of hearings. I want to welcome the Commander in 
Chief.
    Each Congress, I look forward to hearing from our VSOs, and 
I appreciate the technical difficulties of setting this up as 
we recover from this pandemic.
    Thank you also to the VSOs for their testimony. Thank you 
all for your service to our great nation.
    I also want to thank VFW Hawaii, who has made it their 
mission to serve veterans not just in Hawaii, but across the 
Pacific.
    A special fa'afetai to American Samoa's very own Igafo 
Maria Brown Va'a who always looks out for her fellow Samoan 
veterans, and George Barlett, who continues to give my staff 
regular VFW briefings. We are long overdue for an in-person 
meeting and I look forward to hosting you and your fellow VFWs 
in my office later this year when it is safe to do so.
    I know that I can speak for everyone here this afternoon 
when I say that this entire committee on both sides of the 
aisle are fully dedicated to ensuring that the Federal 
Government lives up to our end of the bargain when it comes to 
providing the best resources and services to our veterans.
    The events in the past year and the COVID-19 pandemic have 
been unprecedented. However, I am proud to say that Congress' 
response also has been unprecedented with an overwhelming 
bipartisan response and record funding for VA programs. We are 
not quite out of the woods and there are long-term effects to 
consider, but I am confident that we will continue to do 
everything we can to make sure our veterans are taken care of 
and that the negative impacts of COVID do not overshadow or 
interrupt the other care and benefits our veterans have 
rightfully earned.
    I also want to take a moment to reiterate my commitment to 
some of the specific priorities outlined by VFW and the other 
VSOs.
    Congress has an obligation to veterans who have been 
exposed to Agent Orange, burn pits, and other toxic exposures. 
I will continue to support legislation that provides care for 
these veterans and protects the interests of future veterans 
who may be exposed to similar hazards while serving our 
country.
    I am also committed to ensuring our female veterans are 
represented and cared for. In fact, I will be participating in 
a subcommittee hearing later this afternoon on the gender-
specific health care needs of female veterans.
    Finally, as a member who represents a U.S. territory, I am 
particularly interested in your priorities for those veterans 
who live in either rural or remote locations such as my home 
district of American Samoa.
    I want to thank the VFW and other VSOs for their efforts, 
and I do look forward to working with you on these and the many 
other issues facing today's veterans.
    Thank you again for being here today. Thank you for your 
service to our grateful nation.
    Mr. Chairman, I yield.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Mrs. Radewagen.
    And, Commander, when I was joking with Senator Tester, I 
didn't mean to be offensive to you by talking about speeches 
going too long.
    But, anyway, let's go on to Senator Sinema, who--is Senator 
Sinema there for 3 minutes? Senator?
    She may not be--if not Senator Sinema, we will move on to 
Representative Sablan.
    Representative Sablan? Hafa Adai.

              HON. GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN,
       U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS

    Mr. Sablan. Yes, good morning. Good morning, everyone. It 
is 81 degrees here in my district at just about 1:30.
    Good morning, Commander and colleagues. Thank you very much 
for your service and for all that you do to improve the lives 
of veterans and their families.
    I also want to give a shout-out to the outstanding VFW 
Auxiliary here in my district.
    Commander, your organization has been successful in getting 
veterans involved at the local and national levels, and 
leveraging their numbers to increase VA benefits and services 
for all veterans.
    Here in my district, the Northern Mariana Islands, and 
other underserved areas, veterans do not always benefit from 
implementation of recently added veterans benefits and services 
because of the lack of qualified VA staff and because of our 
geographic location, just like Mrs. Radewagen's district in 
American Samoa.
    So since the Veterans of Foreign Wars is the only VSO with 
a presence here in my district, and since the VA does not yet 
provide an acceptable level of services to my veterans, I would 
like to ask what can the VFW do to help veterans living in the 
Northern Marianas and other underserved areas that do not have 
access to the care and benefits they rightfully deserve?
    Mr. Roesch. That problem has become very, very high on our 
radar screen, we have taken steps to address that. And Mr. 
Gallucci has been at the forefront in developing our plan for 
that and I would like him to explain to you what we have been 
doing.
    Mr. Gallucci. Thank you, Comrade Commander in Chief.
    And, Mr. Sablan, it is certainly something that the VFW is 
concerned about, veterans in rural or highly remote areas not 
having equitable access to the benefits that they have earned. 
One of the small silver linings of the COVID-19 pandemic is 
that the VFW was forced to innovate in the way that we train 
advocates to help veterans access their benefits.
    Usually, the VFW is required by VA to host 40 hours of 
training for accredited representatives, and we usually do that 
in person. COVID forced us to adapt. Using web-conferencing 
technology and our online learning platform that we built with 
PsychArmor, we were able to host all of our training virtually 
this year. What that has allowed us to do is build out a 
curriculum that we can deliver really any time, anywhere, and I 
think we are just about ready to do that.
    What we want to be able to do is reach advocates who may 
not be able to take advantage of that training, so that they 
know how to properly help veterans access their benefits.
    Mr. Sablan. Wow.
    Mr. Gallucci. That is something we would be eager to work 
with you for.
    Mr. Sablan. Well, that is amazing, especially for those of 
us who are so far away from--you know, from the core center of 
government.
    I would like to--once you have that up and running, I would 
like very much to be able to have that and offer it to some of 
our veterans here who would like to help. But thank you, thank 
you very much for that.
    And, Mr. Chairman, I think I am out of time.
    Thank you, VFW, for all that you do, and I yield back.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Representative Sablan.
    I now call on Representative Murphy for 3 minutes. 
Representative?

                      HON. GREGORY MURPHY,
            U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM NORTH CAROLINA

    Mr. Murphy. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you, other 
members of the committee.
    And thank you for all the VSOs that are present today. I am 
deeply appreciative and respectful of the service that you have 
given to our Nation and I thank you.
    We have talked about some excellent issues today. I am a 
physician and have been really pushing the study of this 
pandemic and the study of our vaccination efforts. I believe--I 
am heartened to hear how well you guys have taken up that 
mantle and are working toward getting our veterans, who are, 
most of them, oftentimes in the most at-risk populations. Until 
we get a majority of individuals vaccinated, we will not be 
able to get our freedom back, and that you guys have fought so 
much for. And so I am deeply appreciative of your efforts.
    I also just will throw one other wrinkle in. I am really 
appreciative of the advancements that you guys have made with 
telehealth. I worked very hard when I was in the legislature 
back in North Carolina to bring telehealth out. I practice in a 
very rural area of eastern North Carolina and it is critical. 
Our veterans have to travel hours to see a provider, and 
establishing telehealth as a means of being able to take care 
of those veterans is just so critical.
    I'm going to throw on one mantle here very quickly. PTSD 
and traumatic brain injury are something that are very, very 
important to me. I think we do a good job in the Veterans 
Administration of treating them, but I don't think we do a good 
enough job. I have sponsored Bill 1014 to look at hyperbaric 
oxygen therapy.
    As a scientist, as a physician, I have used hyperbaric 
oxygen therapy to help treat wounds. I believe that PTSD and 
TBI oftentimes comes from wounds. And I would like you guys to 
consider sponsoring that bill--the Fleet Reserve Association 
already has written a letter of support--basically to study 
this issue. We need to use every armament possible to help 
treat our veterans, you know, when we are having 17 suicides a 
day.
    We are able to reach some of those with the present 
modalities and therapies, but at some point these guys turn to 
a point of no return, there is nothing less for them. And 
hyperbaric oxygen therapy, while not mainstream at this point 
in time, I have seen personally how it has turned some 
veterans' lives around.
    And I would ask that you consider this, supporting this 
measure in written form as we move forward.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Commander, I will let you speak to that. We just have about 
25 seconds.
    Mr. Roesch. I promise you we will take a look at it, as we 
will also take a look at anything that is there to help our 
veterans. Everything is on the table.
    Mr. Murphy. Great.
    Mr. Roesch. We will move that up in our priority and take a 
good look at that and get back with you on it.
    Mr. Murphy. Thank you very much. I look forward to that 
conversation. This is the least we can do for those men and 
women who have bravely served our Nation.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will yield back the remainder of 
my time.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Representative Dr. Murphy.
    I now call on Representative Cawthorn for 3 minutes.
    Representative Cawthorn?

                     HON. MADISON CAWTHORN,
            U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM NORTH CAROLINA

    Mr. Cawthorn. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
    And thank you all, to all of our witnesses who have come 
online, I really do appreciate you coming here.
    I will jump straight into questioning. You know, I was 
curious, on a scale of--I really ask just one to ten, how would 
you rate the communication that your members have received from 
the VA regarding health care and benefits during the pandemic, 
and where do you think the VA can improve?
    Mr. Roesch. Well, on an overall scale of one to ten, 
probably around a six, seven, mainly because of the biggest 
demographics that we have out there. They are not internet 
savvy--not to say that none of them are, but we have a big 
group that are not, and that seems to be the mode that most of 
the information is coming out.
    We have relied a lot on getting the information to the VFW 
posts, as other VSOs have, that are in the community as best we 
can because we have been shut down. So the COVID has just put a 
complete stop--other than mailings and something going directly 
to their door. We have really put an emphasis on buddy checks, 
phone calls, knocking on doors, checking on them, getting the 
word out to them. It definitely flags a problem. The internet 
is great, Zoom is great, that aspect is great, but not 
everybody either has the bandwidth or even the computers to do 
it.
    Mr. Cawthorn. Yes, that makes a lot of sense to me. I know 
my grandfather, he served as a Marine, if I asked him to jump 
on a Zoom right now, there is zero chance he would be able to 
do that without me having to get my brother to go over to his 
house.
    But, moving on, I just want to ask, how do you think the 
Buddy Check system is working for you all? Do you have enough 
people who are willing and able to go and do this? Is this 
normally from your younger members or just from volunteers? I 
am just curious on that front.
    Mr. Roesch. It is a two-front program. One is we are just 
distributing our members list with phone numbers and it is as 
simple as making phone calls. So even individuals who may not 
be so willing to go out into the world, if you will, to do 
that, can still reach out and connect with them. Other ones are 
going out into our communities. Not just the VFW members, but 
veterans and just the older population and those that need 
something. We put together--and mainly, as you said, it is our 
younger members that did it that weren't quite as skittish on 
the virus to go out and get food and get supplies and get 
medicine, and do whatever they need to help out.
    Mr. Cawthorn. Fantastic. Well, Mr. Roesch, thank you very 
much for everything that you are doing for our veterans 
community today, they deserve the thanks of a grateful nation.
    So, Ranking Member Bost and Chairman Takano, thank you very 
much. I yield back the rest of my time.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Representative Cawthorn.
    I now call on Senator Sinema for 3 minutes. Senator?

                      HON. KYRSTEN SINEMA,
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM ARIZONA

    Senator Sinema. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman for hosting 
this hearing today.
    Commander Roesch, I wanted to thank you and your team for 
participating today. This week, I was thrilled to announce the 
opening of a Project Atlas telehealth site in Wickenburg, 
Arizona. Our office worked with The American Legion to secure 
the site. And with the VFW, they have also been very important 
partners with the VA to bring Project Atlas to other States 
across the country.
    Project Atlas is just one of the efforts the VA is 
undertaking to expand telehealth capabilities to rural 
communities. What is the VFW learning from its participation in 
Project Atlas that could help inform these and other efforts to 
expand telehealth capabilities at the VA, and what are you 
hearing from your members about the Atlas sites?
    Mr. Roesch. Well, the first thing that we are learning is 
we are being able to get care to those veterans that may not 
have readily available access to it. I can tell you from 
experience the Atlas sites at the VFW posts, we have two up and 
running, we have three more just about to get there to finish 
up our phase. It has been fantastic, nothing but good things 
have been coming to us from it. We think it is something that 
needs to be expanded. We are going to be ready to jump in to 
phase 2.
    And not just the Atlas part of it--I mean, that gives a 
really comprehensive telehealth capability, but we also 
encourage the use of just plain Zoom meetings, telehealth in 
that way for their checkups, for their check-ins, to help them 
relieve some of the backlog, A, at the VA hospital, but get 
them the care that they need, answer their questions in a 
timely manner. But we can never do away with the brick-and-
mortar, face-to-face, in-depth care that they get at the VA.
    Senator Sinema. I can't agree with you more, but I think 
this is a very innovative supplement for veterans who are 
living in remote areas and particularly important during the 
time of the virus.
    To the next topic, I share your concerns about toxic 
exposures and airborne hazards, not just for those who have 
been exposed while deployed, but also for exposures while 
stateside. The Marine Corps air station in Yuma, Arizona has 
been deemed a U.S. Superfund site due to the dumping of fuels 
and solvents and open burn pits, which led to groundwater 
contamination.
    What steps need to be taken to make the support for 
exposures and related health issues a more proactive process 
for the veteran, where the Department of Defense acknowledges 
and notifies a veteran of exposure, and then works with the VA 
to make sure the veteran is receiving regular health care to 
assess and support health conditions that could appear as a 
result of that exposure?
    Mr. Roesch. We realize that that is a problem. Mr. Gallucci 
has been working diligently on that and I would like to get his 
thoughts on that.
    Mr. Gallucci. Thank you, Comrade Commander in Chief, and I 
will be brief.
    This is the importance of the framework in making sure that 
an independent commission, once an exposure has been 
identified, can have the scientists start working on it and 
then, once the scientists make a determination, then VA is 
compelled to grant that as a service-connected benefit.
    As Commander in Chief Roesch had said before, we can't 
treat each time an exposure comes up as if it is the first time 
it has ever happened.
    Senator Sinema. I appreciate that.
    Mr. Chairman, I see I have exceeded my time. Thank you for 
your indulgence.
    And thanks again to all of our VFW heroes who are here 
today.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Senator Sinema. Thank you, 
Senator Sinema.
    I now call on Representative Frankel for 3 minutes. 
Representative Frankel?

                       HON. LOIS FRANKEL,
                U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM FLORIDA

    Ms. Frankel. Hello. Thank you, everybody, and thank you for 
your service. Thank you, Mr. Chair, for calling on me.
    This week, I had a meeting with directors of student vet 
centers that are located at various colleges throughout the 
country, and I am just wondering if any of you have had any 
experience with these centers and if you had any comments about 
them?
    Mr. Roesch. We have had extensive experience with the 
Student Veterans of America. When they were first coming 
around, we opened up our VFW posts for them to hold their 
meetings there. We have helped them with some of their 
legislation. And we continue to work hand-in-hand with them, 
recognizing the leadership capabilities that they provide not 
only to the industry, but back to us. We wrote a fellowship 
program for Student Veterans where we take some of them and 
incorporate them into how we do our legislative work here.
    So we are quite familiar with them, we are very proud to 
say we work hand-in-hand with them.
    Ms. Frankel. So let me just as a follow-up, what--if you 
have a comment on any obstacles that our veterans have when 
they come out of service to try and--you know, either going 
back to school or start a higher education, what are some of 
the obstacles that they face or challenges?
    Mr. Roesch. Depending on where they are is different 
obstacles. Mr. Murray is our resident expert on that, I will 
let him provide us with some key information.
    Mr. Murray. Thank you, Commander in Chief.
    Ma'am, some of the issues facing veterans as they 
transition out and look to go to school is an accurate GI Bill 
comparison tool that is updated and reflects real-time 
situations of schools so they can be informed consumers about 
which education institution they want to attend. Additionally, 
the TAP program. Transition is incredibly important when 
leaving service and going into the civilian world, making sure 
that that is as seamless of a transition as possible is 
critical.
    The VFW works on 27 different bases across the country at 
our Benefits Delivery and Discharge, or BDD sites, as we call 
it, where our service officers work in the transition process 
with transitioning servicemembers to ensure that their seamless 
transition of care and benefits is better than ever. It is 
something that we fully stand behind and we think will help at 
every other base around the country to ensure their success.
    Ms. Frankel. Thank you. And as the veterans get on the 
college campus--I know it is a little different now because of 
the pandemic, but as they get onto the campus, what kinds of 
services do you recommend be available for them, what kind of 
either mentoring or tutoring or socialization?
    Mr. Roesch. Most education facilities have a Student 
Veterans body that they are very comfortable with, it is some 
of their peers and that is a vital part of it. Local VFWs stand 
at the ready for anything that they can do to facilitate their 
education. It is definitely a benefit for them and we encourage 
all veterans take advantage of all educational benefits that 
they have out there.
    Ms. Frankel. Okay. Thank you, Commander.
    Mr. Chair, thank you. I yield back.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Representative Frankel.
    Are there any other members seeking time for questions? Any 
other members that are on the call seeking time for questions?
    If not, I am going to call the work of the first panel 
complete. This will complete the questioning of the first panel 
with the VFW.
    And I want to thank Commander Roesch and the other 
witnesses from the VFW. We appreciated hearing from you today 
and look forward to working together with you all during the 
117th Congress. You are now excused.
    We will take a brief recess to allow the second panel to 
set up.
    [Pause.]
    Chairman Takano. I now call up and recognize our second 
panel.
    We have with us today Ms. Jan Brown, National Commander of 
AMVETS; Mr. Michael ``Mick'' Fulton, National President, the 
Fleet Reserve Association; Ms. Nancy Menagh, National 
President, Gold Star Wives of America; Ms. Fawn Sharp, 
President, National Congress of American Indians; Mr. Richard 
Kinsberry, President of the National Association for Black 
Veterans, Inc.
    I now recognize Ms. Brown. You are recognized for 5 minutes 
to present your opening statement.

                            PANEL II

                              ----------                              


                    STATEMENT OF JAN BROWN,
         NATIONAL COMMANDER, AMERICAN VETERANS (AMVETS)

    Ms. Brown. Thank you. Chairman, Ranking Members, and 
Honorable Members of the House and Senate Committees on 
Veterans' Affairs, I appreciate the opportunity to present you 
with AMVETS' 2021 legislative priorities and policy 
recommendations.
    To say the past 2 years have been challenging is an 
underStatement. As Commander of the largest organization 
representing all of America's veterans, I can tell you 
firsthand it has been tough. I have lost friends and comrades 
to COVID, and I have watched incredible AMVETS families step up 
to the plate and do everything within their power to do the 
right thing.
    The spirit of the American veteran is a proud one: a spirit 
founded in the notion of service, service to our Nation, 
service to our comrades who need a hand up, service to our 
families and communities. Our veterans, when empowered, 
represent the best of our community. They have stood the watch 
and are ever vigilant to continue that service. I was proud of 
our AMVETS during this pandemic, they brought that spirit and 
served again.
    We applaud the VA and its many employees for stepping up 
during these trying times. Keep up the good work and let's get 
shots in arms. And we implore Congress to get them everything 
that they need.
    When I reflect on the many years of testimony I have seen 
presented to Congress, it often tends toward a laundry list of 
needs. I have also noted at the core of these needs is a lack 
of vision and strategy; where we are going, who we want our 
veterans to be in American society, and how do we empower them 
to become the bedrocks of our community by helping them become 
their best selves.
    My ideal VA frames me as the strong American female veteran 
that I am, a VA that proactively helps me chart my career 
goals, assists me with my education to achieve these goals; 
proactively helps me understand the components of living a 
happy and healthy life; a life of meaning, a life of purpose, a 
life of service.
    My ideal VA helps me understand my inner warrior to help me 
maintain a state of physical readiness, that teaches me the 
components of being mentally healthy, to help me understand 
financial success, development, and maintain meaningful and 
positive relationships, and discuss the impact of substance 
abuse.
    Our VA today is disjointed and reactive. If I do not 
contact the VA, well, I probably won't hear from them. We have 
a mental health system focused on treating veterans who have 
spiraled for years following their military service transition. 
We have unemployed veterans who could have used career advice 
decades ago. We have veterans struggling with addiction and 
broken relationships.
    We need to get out of the business of simply reacting and 
into the business of building our ideal VA, a VA that results 
in veterans living happy, healthy, financially stable lives 
worth living.
    Our American veterans are counting on you this Congress. We 
need a bold vision for the future. Part of that vision needs to 
focus on addressing VA's largely ineffective approach to mental 
health. There is nothing particularly proactive about spending 
billions of dollars on programs that most veterans participate 
in once or twice, never to return.
    Congress made a tough but necessary stride in the 116th 
Congress by acknowledging that VA mental health care alone and 
pharmaceuticals were not providing their promised outcomes. The 
investment for new and novel approaches represents one quarter 
of one percent of the mental health budget. It is not enough. 
We need a game changer.
    The mental health and pharmaceutical industries have failed 
us for two decades. We need new voices, we need new approaches, 
and we need a new strategy, and we won't get them if you do not 
act.
    Our congressionally chartered 501(c)(19)s also need your 
help. We need a law passed that allows all congressionally 
chartered 501(c)(19) nonprofit organizations to receive tax-
deductible donations. Current law prohibits nonprofits like 
ours from accepting tax-deductible donations because less than 
90 percent of our members are wartime vets.
    An issue that is close to my heart is the treatment and 
respect of women and minority veterans. We must recognize their 
service and address their unique needs. Our veterans, in all 
their color, gender, and sexual orientation, deserve the VA's 
respect, admiration, and support in helping them become the 
best version of the exceptional individuals that they are.
    AMVETS is honored and thankful for your invitation to 
present our views to the 117th Congress and this concludes my 
statement.
    Thank you.

    [The prepared statement of Ms. Brown appears on page 93 of 
the Appendix.]

    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Ms. Brown.
    I now call upon Mr. Fulton for 5 minutes to give his 
opening remarks.

            STATEMENT OF MICHAEL F. ``MICK'' FULTON,
      NATIONAL PRESIDENT, FLEET RESERVE ASSOCIATION (FRA)

    Mr. Fulton. Chairmans Tester and Takano, Ranking Members 
Moran and Bost, and other members of the committees, my name is 
Mick Fulton, and I retired from the Navy in November of 2006 
after more than 30 years of service. I reside in Imperial 
Beach, California, and I am the National President of the Fleet 
Reserve Association. I am here today representing the concerns 
of the oldest sea service association that has been in 
existence over 96 years.
    As one of the leading supporters of the Agent Orange Blue 
Water Navy bill that was enacted in the last session of 
Congress, FRA is grateful for its passage in 2019, and the 
expansion of the presumptions last year that was sponsored by 
Chairman Tester. The Agent Orange legislation helped vets that 
served during the Vietnam conflict, now Congress needs to 
protect those veterans who more recently served or are 
currently serving. That is why FRA is a member of the Toxic 
Exposures in the American Military, TEAM coalition, because it 
wants to ensure that no veteran who had exposure to burn pits 
or other environmental toxins goes without access to VA health 
care benefits. We look forward to working with both committees 
and bill sponsors to pass a comprehensive bill on toxic 
exposure this year.
    The FRA is thankful the SAVE LIVES Act that orders the VA 
to vaccinate any veteran was passed recently. And, under the 
bill, more caregivers would be eligible for a vaccine through 
the VA, as would spouses of veterans and recipients of the VA's 
CHAMPVA program.
    FRA is also thankful for legislation in the House under the 
VA Vaccine Act.
    The association also welcomes the additional funding for VA 
in the COVID relief package that recently passed Congress.
    We understand that the VA has a limited number of vaccines 
and the VA has given priority to veterans already receiving 
care that are 75 and older. We understand that some VA 
facilities are now offering vaccines to veterans age 65 and 
older.
    Since December 2020, VA has provided more than 1.4 million 
vaccines for high-risk veterans at 258 sites. The agency has 
given more than 1.3 million tests and the VA telehealth usage 
has increased by more than 1400 percent.
    In January, VA also gave permission for some veteran 
caregivers to also receive the vaccine.
    FRA would welcome congressional oversight of VA's response 
to the pandemic.
    FRA is thankful that Congress enacted major provisions of 
the FRA-supported Deborah Sampson Act to assist women veterans, 
including the creation of VA Office of Women's Health, 
providing $20 million to retrofit VA hospital and women's 
health spaces, and makes permanent a program to provide 
childcare at VA facilities, among its other provisions.
    The association wants to increase access to gender-specific 
medical and mental health care to meet the unique needs of 
women servicemembers and women veterans, and urges the 
committees to have oversight hearings to ensure timely and 
effective implementation.
    FRA and many caregiver families were thankful for the 
expansion of the caregiver program, but are disappointed in the 
delay for all eligible veterans to receive caregiver benefits, 
and the VA's revised regulation tightened the eligibility 
criteria substantially beyond what is required by law.
    FRA believes that one veteran suicide is one too many. The 
association supports improvements of VA and Defense Department 
suicide prevention programs to reduce the rate of suicide among 
veterans and active duty servicemembers. The association 
supported the bills that passed this year with suicide 
prevention provisions, and we hope these committees will 
continue to work on this issue.
    The association was surprised that the VA eliminated the 
critical 48-hour review period, a decades-old practice allowing 
veterans and their representatives time to review benefit 
determinations prior to VA's final decision, as it reduces the 
need for appeals. FRA supports legislation that would reinstate 
the review period to ensure accredited Veterans Service 
Organizations can review and course-correct benefit 
determinations prior to VA final decisions.
    FRA believes congressional oversight of ongoing 
implementation of VA technology upgrades is vital to ensuring 
improvements to the VA system.
    FRA wants to ensure adequate funding for DOD and VA health 
care resource sharing in delivering seamless, cost-effective, 
quality services to personnel wounded in combat and other 
veterans and their families.
    FRA wants to thank Chairman Tester and Representative 
Bilirakis for introducing the Major Richard Star Act to expand 
concurrent receipt to include Combat Related Special 
Compensation veterans who are medically retired with less than 
20 years of service. It is a top priority for the FRA and 
military coalition.
    Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak.

    [The prepared statement of Mr. Fulton appears on page 107 
of the Appendix.]

    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Mr. Fulton.
    Ms. Menagh, you are recognized for 5 minutes to present 
your opening statement.

         STATEMENT OF NANCY MENAGH, NATIONAL PRESIDENT,
             GOLD STAR WIVES OF AMERICA, INC. (GSW)

    Ms. Menagh. Chairman Takano, Ranking Member Bost, Chairman 
Tester, Ranking Member Moran, and committee members, we want to 
thank you for inviting us to testify this year. It has been our 
honor and privilege to work with legislatures for over 75 years 
to better the lives of surviving spouses and family members.
    My name is Nancy Menagh and I am the President of Gold Star 
Wives of America, Inc. My husband, Captain Philip Menagh, 
served in the Marine Corps from 1966 to 1979, earning the 
Silver Star, Bronze Star with Valor, and the Navy and Marine 
Corps Medal. He was shot and killed in a training accident at 
Fort Bragg on June 9th, 1984 while serving in the Virginia 
National Guard.
    I was a young, bewildered widow with children age 10, 8, 5, 
3, and I was 8 months pregnant with our youngest son. That son 
grew up to serve as an Air Force Captain and my youngest 
daughter as a Tech Sergeant.
    One of my proudest moments was when my son's CO pinned him 
with his late father's Marine Corps Captain bars. Both children 
have upheld the Air Force tradition began by my father, who 
served in the Army Air Corps.
    We are so thankful for the removal of the DIC SBP offset, 
which affects around 15 percent of those receiving DIC. Because 
my husband was killed on active duty prior to 9/11, I don't 
qualify for SBP; therefore, I rely heavily on DIC.
    Other than COLA, DIC has not had a raise since 1993, when 
surviving spouses of junior enlisted were raised to the flat 
rate. All surviving spouses going forward share the same flat 
rate, which is equivalent to 43 percent of a 100-percent 
disabled veteran. We are asking for equity with surviving 
spouses of Federal employees, who receive 55 percent.
    Last congressional session, you gave us parity by reducing 
the age from 57 to age 55 to retain DIC for those who remarry, 
now we are asking for parity again.
    Our earliest Gold Star Wives newsletter 76 years ago shows 
that we were asking Congress to increase payment for pensions. 
The first child of an active duty soldier received $30 a month, 
but if that soldier was killed the amount was reduced to 15. We 
succeeded in getting that raised to 18. And the article states 
that we thanked Congress for that extra pint of milk each day, 
maybe next year they can provide our children with orange 
juice. Well, that is what we are asking, we are asking for 
orange juice. What a difference for surviving spouses to be 
able to pay for one more tank of gas or one more bag of 
groceries per week.
    We are grateful that you removed the SBP DIC offset for the 
65,000 widowed who receive SBP, but there are over 335,000 
widowed constituents who only receive DIC, and they need that 
orange juice.
    We are now dealing with this generation's exposure to Agent 
Orange, namely exposure to burn pits and other toxins. We are 
still seeing presumptive conditions added to Agent Orange 50 
years later and now we are just beginning with exposure to burn 
pits. We need greater transparency of all toxic exposure 
claims, broader screening, and updating of presumptive 
conditions to make claims easier for both veterans and for the 
families left behind.
    My husband served in Vietnam and we were stationed at Fort 
McClellan. I have no idea if the issues my children have are 
from Agent Orange or the toxins at the Fort McClellan Superfund 
site.
    Mental health screenings upon separation is vital for 
veterans in helping to prevent suicide, but it is also 
important that we help the family of suicide. Suicide should be 
presumptive of PTSD. If a veteran served in combat or had other 
highly traumatic duties in the military and the veteran 
subsequently dies of suicide, whether 1 year or 50 years after 
service, that suicide should be treated as presumptive of PTSD.
    Suicide causes very complex grief and consequences for the 
family, and we know many veterans with PTSD do not seek VA 
services. No claim by the veteran while alive means no claim 
approval for the family after death. It is just wrong for 
families to have to fight to prove the cause of the suicide. 
All those lost opportunities for that family while they 
struggle to survive financially.
    For 76 years, we have come to remind you to follow the 
words of Abraham Lincoln: ``To care for him who have borne the 
battle, and for his widow and his orphan.''
    While our spouses paid the ultimate sacrifice for our 
country, we are the ones who live out their sacrifice each and 
every day.
    Thank you again for your time and attention.

    [The prepared statement of Ms. Menagh appears on page 119 
of the Appendix.]

    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Ms. Menagh.
    I now recognize Ms. Sharp for 5 minutes to present your 
opening statement. Ms. Sharp, go ahead.

              STATEMENT OF FAWN SHARP, PRESIDENT,
          NATIONAL CONGRESS OF AMERICAN INDIANS (NCAI)

    Ms. Sharp. [Speaking native language.]
Good morning, Chairman Takano, Chairman Tester, Ranking Member 
Bost, Ranking Member Moran, and members of the Senate and House 
Committees on Veterans' Affairs.
    On behalf of the National Congress of American Indians, I 
thank you for holding this hearing today. I am Fawn Sharp, 
President of the Quinault Indian Nation and President of the 
National Congress of American Indians, the oldest and largest 
organization comprised of sovereign Tribal Nations and their 
citizens.
    American Indian and Alaska Natives have a long history of 
distinguished service to the United States. Per capita, 
American Indian and Alaska Natives serve at a higher rate in 
the Armed Forces than any other group of Americans and have 
served in all of the Nation's wars since the Revolutionary War. 
Despite this esteemed service, American Indians and Alaska 
Native veterans have lower personal incomes, a higher 
unemployment rate, and are more likely to lack health insurance 
than other veterans.
    The Federal Government's responsibility to provide certain 
benefits to Native veterans comes both from their service to 
this country and the Federal Government's treaty and trust 
obligations to American Indians and Alaska Native people. NCAI 
is grateful for this committee's work in the 116th Congress 
that addresses some of the barriers of our veterans, and we 
look forward to continuing this partnership and maintaining 
that momentum throughout the 117th Congress.
    Today, my testimony will focus on an overview of critical 
needs to advance the health and well-being of our American 
Indian and Alaska Native veterans.
    First, I will address cultural competency at the Department 
of Veterans Affairs and its agency.
    Members of the NCAI Veterans Committee continue to 
highlight cultural competency issues across the VA and Veterans 
Health Administration. The same sentiments were also recorded 
in 2018 VHA survey of veteran enrollees' health and use of 
health care, which showed American Indian and Alaska Native 
veterans have higher rates of issues around quality of care and 
accessibility as compared to non-Native veterans. One major 
reason for this discrepancy is the VA's lack of cultural 
competency, which also directly impacts the provisions of 
health care, and how veterans' claims are processed and whether 
they are even approved.
    Given the importance of cultural competency, the NCAI 
Veterans Committee has expressed the need to increase access to 
accreditation to the tribal veterans organizations and tribal 
veterans service officers to assist American Indian and Alaska 
Native veterans with benefits claims and accessing other VA 
services.
    Second, I will address care coordination.
    In 2010, the VA and the Indian Health Service signed a 
memorandum of understanding to establish coordination, 
collaboration, and resources sharing between the VA and IHS to 
improve the health status of American Indian and Alaska Native 
veterans.
    One of our large concerns around care coordination is the 
integration of electronic health records and other information 
technology systems that affect the health care of American 
Indian and Alaska veterans across providers. Currently, our 
veterans are forced to hand carry their medical records from 
provider to provider, and are required to take two annual 
physicals, one at IHS and then one at the VHA. To address this, 
Congress must closely monitor the development of new health IT 
systems and ensure there is full interoperability of VHA, IHS, 
tribal health provider, and Urban Indian organization health 
record systems.
    I will next turn, thirdly, to address data collection on 
suicide among veterans and the need for increased mental health 
services.
    American Indians and Alaska Natives experience high rates 
of depression and psychological distress, which contribute to 
Native people having one of the highest suicide rates of any 
group in the United States. While the VA acknowledges suicide 
as a crisis that affects all Americans and publishes reports 
year after year on suicide data, it continues to omit specific 
data to American Indian and Alaska Native veterans. Therefore, 
NCAI urges Congress and the Administration to work to develop 
policies and procedures that ensure the collection of American 
Indian and Alaska Native veteran suicide data, so policymakers 
have the necessary information to address this horrible crisis.
    Fourth, I will address the tribal veteran homelessness. 
Although outside of the committee's jurisdiction, addressing 
Native veteran homelessness by making permanent the Tribal U.S. 
Department of Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive 
Housing program within the larger HUD-VASH program, and 
ensuring adequate funding for the program, is a priority for 
Tribal Nations and our veterans. To date, the program has a 
nationwide success because it combines rental assistance, case 
management, and clinical services for at-risk homeless 
veterans. Unfortunately, this program is not fully available to 
all Native veterans living on homelands.
    In conclusion, I thank you for the opportunity to testify, 
and I look forward to your questions. Siqwil.

    [The prepared statement of Ms. Sharp appears on page 128 of 
the Appendix.]

    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Ms. Sharp.
    I was paying attention to everything you were saying and 
you just said something about the medical records that got me 
to thinking, and I was talking to my staff. I want you to know 
I wasn't ignoring you.
    I now call on Mr. Kinsberry for his 5 minutes to give his 
opening statement.
    Mr. Kinsberry?

           STATEMENT OF RICHARD KINSBERRY, PRESIDENT
       NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR BLACK VETERANS (NABVETS)

    Mr. Kinsberry. Yes. Chairman Tester, Chairman Takano, 
Ranking Member Moran and Ranking Member Bost, and distinguished 
members of the committees, on behalf of our members and some 
14,000 veterans we represent, I thank you for the opportunity 
to introduce myself, the organization I represent, and to 
testify before you today.
    I am Richard D. Kinsberry, National Commander of the 
National Association for Black Veterans. I have served more 
than 31 years in the military, retiring as a Lieutenant 
Colonel, culminating my career as Professor of Military Science 
in charge of the Army ROTC program at the University of North 
Carolina, Charlotte.
    NABVETS was founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1969 by 
seven Black combat Vietnam veterans. These veterans noticed 
that Black veterans were treated differently by the VA from the 
White Vietnam veterans they had served alongside in Vietnam. 
They formed the organization to address the blatant 
marginalization of Black veterans and the challenges they face 
with these concerns. Some of these concerns still exist today.
    NABVETS is a volunteer organization. As an accredited 
Veterans Service Organizations, NABVETS represents all 
veterans, particularly Black veterans. For the past 3 years, we 
have assisted veterans with obtaining over $105 million in VA-
related compensation.
    Here are some of our priorities. NABVETS supports 
legislation introduced by Representative Seth Moulton and 
Representative James E. Clyburn, the GI Bill Repair Act. This 
bill focuses on repairing inequalities Black World War II 
veterans experience when accessing GI Bill benefits. Racism 
systematically denied Black veterans and their families of 
economic enhancement and expansion of generational wealth. The 
bill seeks to expand access to certain VA housing and education 
assistance programs to the surviving spouses and dependents of 
Black World War II veterans.
    We support a collaborative initiative between NABVETS and 
VA to study the need and assist our aging veterans, 
particularly Black veterans, Korean War veterans, Vietnam War-
era veterans, Black veterans who have literally given up on the 
VA. And many of them are in their 70s, their 80s, their 90s, 
who have zero percent or 10 percent or 20 percent disability 
ratings. They deserve disability ratings that reflect their 
service-connected conditions. These aging veterans will not be 
with us much longer, why can't their claims be revisited, which 
could improve the quality of life for them and their family?
    We have a proprietary system that gives us the capacity of 
adjudicating claims in a matter of minutes. Now, this system 
can potentially reduce the number of veterans-related suicide, 
it can allow for faster claims processing. It also is a cost 
reduction for the VA by reducing its backlog in claims.
    I can't get into the details of how the system works 
because it is a proprietary system, but an example of what we 
believe is a cost-saving measure, if we look at the State of 
California--we can look at any State--and we look at the total 
number of veterans that are in that State, about 1.6 million, 
we know that when we do claims that if a veteran gets a retro, 
that retro amount is about $32,104. So if half of the veterans 
in the State of California were to submit claims and they were 
due a retro, those half of those veterans or 829,700 veterans, 
half of the veteran population, if they receive their retro for 
their VA claims, that would be roughly $26 billion. And why do 
I say that? If we can reduce the amount of retro, that is a 
cost savings for the VA.
    In conclusion, I wish to emphasize our support for the 
concerns and priorities of all VSOs, and we enjoin Congress to 
move expeditiously to address all issues of disparity in 
treatment to include the excessive and discriminatory 
punishment endured by individuals of color. While the military 
is coming to grips with this reality, those veterans who are 
victims should be given consideration for VA benefits and 
services to enhance reintegration.
    From NABVETS' membership to both committees, I thank you 
once again for this opportunity to share with you our views on 
issues impacting America's Black veterans. I look forward to 
answering your questions and working with the committees going 
forward.
    Thank you.

    [The prepared statement of Mr. Kinsberry appears on page 
133 of the Appendix.]

    Chairman Takano. Thank you for your testimony, Mr. 
Kinsberry. I want to make sure that all the presenters know 
that your full written testimony will be included in the 
hearing record.
    Again, so that we can ensure every member and Senator 
present has an opportunity to ask questions, I ask that 
everyone limit their questions to 3 minutes as much as 
possible. I now recognize myself for 3 minutes of questions.
    I would like to begin with a question to President Sharp. 
As I stated in my opening remarks, President Sharp, we are 
committed to ensuring that VA is open and welcoming. In your 
testimony, you identified a need for improved cultural 
competency at VA. Do you have recommendations on how they can 
achieve that?
    Ms. Sharp. Thank you. I really appreciate that question.
    Absolutely. The one thing that can happen is if people 
understand, recognize, and know that the relationship that 
sovereign Tribal Nations have with the United States is one 
that invokes a treaty and trust responsibility. So the most 
important thing that everyone across veterans services must 
understand is that there are two responsibilities the United 
States has to Native veterans, one is definitely for their 
service, but the other is as citizens of Tribal Nations that 
have sovereign and independent responsibilities, and the United 
States has a trust and treaty responsibility.
    So that would be the most important thing that anyone 
working in the Veterans Administration should know and 
understand about sovereign Tribal Nations and their citizens.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you so much.
    Mr. Kinsberry, in your testimony you discuss the lower 
utilization of VA benefits by African American veterans when 
compared to other groups. Why do you think that is?
    Mr. Kinsberry. Mr. Chairman, one of the things I believe is 
because, as I have mentioned, a lot of Black veterans has lost 
trust in the VA and because of that fact, they may have gone to 
the VA once, they didn't get the results that they thought they 
deserved, and they have not bothered to go back.
    So trust is one of the biggest concerns that we have and I 
think that is part of the reason why the utilization may be 
lower for Black veterans.
    Chairman Takano. What are some ways you feel VA could 
improve outreach to the African American veteran community to 
ensure that they are aware of the benefits they have earned, 
and how can the VA earn their trust back?
    Mr. Kinsberry. Chairman, that is a great question. I 
believe if the VA would partner with organizations like 
NABVETS, or similar organizations, who are in the communities 
where the veterans are, because those veterans, they trust 
NABVETS. And so if we partner and collaborate with VA on some 
initiatives in the communities where the veterans are, I think 
we will be able to attract more veterans to start utilizing 
more of the benefits and services of VA.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you so much. I appreciate that, Mr. 
Kinsberry, and I appreciate your response.
    I am now--my time is up--I am going to now call on Ranking 
Member Bost for his 3 minutes.
    Ranking Member Bost?
    Mr. Bost. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Ms. Sharp, can you share the biggest challenges that your 
members face when they seek care and benefits at the VA?
    Ms. Sharp. Yes. As I pointed out, some of the biggest 
challenges are there is no coordination of care.
    And when tribal citizens have to go to the Indian Health 
Service--and we are governed by a number of complex regulations 
around Indian Health Service and there is no integration with 
our veterans and their services. And, as I pointed out, it is 
to the point where our veterans have to physically carry their 
medical records from provider to provider and there is no 
coordination.
    So that is a major barrier for our veterans to access 
coordinated health care services.
    Mr. Bost. Mr. Kinsberry, could you answer that same 
question?
    Mr. Kinsberry. So we have an opportunity to reach more 
veterans than we do. But in this day and time, it has been 
mentioned that many of our veterans are in a rural area, but I 
think what can be done is we need to take the services or the 
opportunities to the veterans so that they can have access to 
health care services.
    That is, I know the VA and some of the organizations that 
we partner with have mobile assets, and so we can partner with 
them and the VA to get into the communities where our veterans 
are, so that they have the opportunity for health care just 
right where they are in their own communities without traveling 
hours in many cases.
    Mr. Bost. Thank you.
    Ms. Brown, one in four female veterans reports sexual 
harassment by male veterans on VA grounds and it is a horrible 
fact, but the VSOs are uniquely in place to be part of ending 
the sexual harassment at the VA. How can your organization 
partner with VA and other VSOs to educate veterans and staff on 
their role in ending the sexual harassment that is going on?
    Ms. Brown. Thank you for that question. It is a huge 
problem that has been reported. We are willing to work with the 
VA on educating people on how to--and our veterans, we try to 
do that in our posts, educate veterans, our male veterans--or 
all our veterans that we are all equal and that all veterans 
deserve the respect of not only other veterans, but of the VA 
staff.
    So we are willing to work with the VA on anything that they 
would like to do to provide a more comfortable, a more 
equitable reception at VAs.
    Mr. Bost. Thank you. And it looks like my time has expired. 
I appreciate all of you for being here today.
    And, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Ranking Member Bost.
    I would like to now call on Mr. Mrvan. Representative 
Mrvan, please, your 3 minutes.

                       HON. FRANK MRVAN,
                U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM INDIANA

    Mr. Mrvan. Good afternoon. Thank you all for your testimony 
today, and for your time and for your service and for the 
quality of life of veterans.
    At this time I would like to ask Commander Brown. I was 
inspired by your call to action when it comes to leveraging 
technology to provide proactive, preventative, and economically 
beneficial services at a meaningful and timely point of 
veterans' life cycle. As the chairman of the Subcommittee on 
Technology Modernization, I am curious, what do you believe we 
can learn from the EHRM to inform future modernization efforts?
    Ms. Brown. I don't have anything specific on that. I can 
get with my leadership and we can provide that information to 
you in a written form.
    Mr. Mrvan. Okay. That being said, if I can ask my second 
question to Mr. Kinsberry. You expressed your concern in your 
testimony that some veterans who had received bad paper 
discharges for reasons relating to mental health, military 
sexual trauma, or discrimination are unable to access to 
educational and training opportunities through the Forever GI 
Bill. Can you elaborate on the experience of these veterans and 
does NABVETS have specific recommendations for addressing this 
issue?
    Mr. Kinsberry. Yes, that is a great question. We find that 
a lot of veterans, they did not receive an honorable discharge 
and they have received a less-than-honorable discharge, and so 
the difficulty they run into is accessing benefits and 
services. Unless they are discharges are upgraded or changed, 
they face that challenge. Even though they have served many 
years in service, but for whatever reason, a particular 
incident may have caused them to have a bad discharge, they are 
not able to access the services.
    And so what we have tried to do in many cases is to work 
with some veterans to get their discharges upgraded because, no 
matter what the situation is, they are veterans and they still 
need services and treatment.
    And we have worked with VBA also to get information out to 
assist veterans with getting a discharge upgrade and change. So 
what we have found is more of the minority veterans have a 
grading of those kinds of discharges, therefore they are 
negatively impacted more so than any other rate of groups of 
veterans, those Black veterans tend to be the ones that are 
highly impacted.
    And we are working with our female veterans as well. What 
we often do is we try to pair our service officers particularly 
with our females because of their bad experiences that they 
have had. And we have had some males who had bad experiences as 
well with sexual trauma and we pair them with a male service 
officer.
    Mr. Mrvan. Thank you very much, Mr. Kinsberry. I appreciate 
that. I had an experience with a female Marine who was 
discharged dishonorably, but she was sexually assaulted, didn't 
report it, and she had turned to opiates or drugs and was 
discharged for that, and my organization worked with her to try 
and get her--and it is a challenging issue and I look forward 
to working with you on that in the future.
    Mr. Kinsberry. Thank you.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Representative Mrvan.
    Representative Cawthorn, you are recognized for 3 minutes.
    Mr. Cawthorn. Chairman Takano, thank you very much.
    To all our witnesses, thank you very much for joining us. I 
think increasing the quality of life for all of our veterans is 
so incredible.
    So my question is to the National President of the Gold 
Star Wives, Ms. Menagh. Thank you very much for being online. I 
did just want to ask you very quickly really a broad question. 
Please take this anywhere you would like. What really do you 
hear, you know, from all of your members nationwide, what is 
their number-one need, and how can I as a Congressman or all of 
us on this committee be able to serve them better?
    Ms. Menagh. Well, for the members of Gold Star Wives, the 
number-one need is the increase in the DIC. We have so many 
members in their 70s and 90s--we have members from World War 
II, Korea, Vietnam--and for many of them the DIC is their main 
source of income and they are really struggling. And so to have 
parity to, you know, get the raise that we need, we haven't had 
one since 1993.
    But for non-members that we carry about, you know, getting 
suicide as a presumptive of PTSD we think is so important, 
because I see so many families whose claim is denied because 
their veteran did not seek services, and that is just wrong, it 
is wrong.
    Mr. Cawthorn. Yes, it is. Well, Miss Nancy, thank you very 
much.
    Ms. Menagh. Thank you.
    Mr. Cawthorn. Thank you for the service that you do for so 
many of our Gold Star wives who have really--you know, they 
have sacrificed so much for our country along with their 
spouses.
    Mrs. Brown, if you don't mind, I was just going to ask you 
a quick question with my last minute that I have. I was 
wondering to just see if you could elaborate on how COVID-19 
has impacted employment opportunities for veterans?
    I am not a veteran myself, but I am disabled, so I am 
really curious about how it has impacted specifically a lot of 
the disabled veterans and what they are having to face as 
difficulties in this time?
    Ms. Brown. I think the unemployment rate for veterans 
during the pandemic was probably a little higher than for the 
normal civilian. People with disabilities, it may have kept 
them from seeking employment because of health issues. We work 
with our career center here locally at the AMVETS Tech 
quarters. We have placed many, many veterans over the years, 
and we--you know, we reach out to anybody that wants, is 
seeking employment that is a veteran or a veteran's spouse.
    So while I don't have specific numbers, I do know that it 
has been a struggle for a lot of our veterans finding 
employment during this time.
    Mr. Cawthorn. Well, Ms. Brown, thank you very much for 
that. Ms. Menagh, thank you for your comments.
    And, Chairman Takano, with that, I will yield back the 
remainder of my time.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Mr. Cawthorn.
    Representative Kaptur, you are recognized for 3 minutes.

                       HON. MARCY KAPTUR,
                 U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM OHIO

    Ms. Kaptur. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, and 
all of our extraordinary guests. I'm sorry I have to bounce 
back between this committee hearing and another that is 
simultaneously scheduled. And I want to thank our prior panel 
of witnesses as well.
    My interest is in, well, many things for veterans, but 
certainly housing for those who are aging, as well as health 
care for those who contract illness that is neuropsychiatric in 
nature, and how well you think we are doing as a country on 
both fronts. Whether you know directly or can provide 
information from your organization to the record, I would very 
much appreciate understanding how better we can house our 
elderly veterans and what programs you have seen operate well 
across the country, if you could give me examples of that, I 
would be grateful. And then number--and what more we could do 
with the VA to improve upon housing and shelter for those who 
need care in their aging years.
    And then, secondly, where you see America doing a really 
good job to treat veterans who present at any age with 
neuropsychiatric conditions. Most people are familiar with PTS, 
and we are still trying to completely understand that and where 
it lodges in the brain, but there are many other conditions 
that onset and, as they become more difficult to treat, 
veterans often use alcohol or other substances to try to kill 
the pain.
    I am wondering if there are places in the country you 
consider particularly stellar in meeting the needs of veterans 
who have neuropsychiatric conditions, how they organize those, 
who they work with at the local level. You are really there at 
the grassroots and you see the potential, what we could do 
versus what we do. We know we are terribly short in terms of 
the number of doctors to serve patients who present with 
neuropsychiatric conditions and advanced practice nurses in 
these fields. And I have said at other hearings, I very much 
want to increase the funding to educate these individuals. I am 
wondering if any of you have visited the Intrepid Center here 
at Walter Reed and if you see anything there that could be 
replicated in other parts of the country or shared in a way 
that would meet the needs of these patients?
    Thank you so very, very much.
    And thank you, Mr. Chairman, for just pulling together a 
phenomenal group of witnesses.
    Ms. Brown. Commander Brown here. Representative Kaptur, I 
would like to say that Ohio is--I think we are reaching out to 
our veterans in this way. I am a huge proponent of 
complementary and alternative medicine for people with 
psychiatric or chronic pain issues. Our posts in Ohio, a lot of 
them--or not a lot of them, but ours in particular in 
Struthers, Ohio, we provide yoga and, when we are not in COVID 
situation, we also provide tai chi for our veterans as another 
way of coping with anxiety, with just everyday life. And, while 
it is not a cure-all, it does help. It is no cost to the 
veteran and it does--it is something that we can all do.
    Ms. Kaptur. I would urge you to look at what the Intrepid 
Center is doing, that is one of their efforts as well. I will 
tell you, the display they have of veterans physically making 
an art piece expressing what their brain feels like is 
something I shall never forget.
    And so I am looking for ways to help the VA do a better job 
in meeting the needs of these patients and to identify best 
practices across the country.
    I know I am over time, so I am going to end, but I am 
looking forward. You think we are doing it right as a country.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Representative Marcy, Marcy 
Kaptur.
    I now call upon Dr. Miller-Meeks. Representative Dr. 
Miller-Meeks, you are recognized for 3 minutes.

                 HON. MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS,
                 U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM IOWA

    Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Thank you, Chair Takano.
    And as a proud member of the VFW, unlike Representative 
Troy Nehls, I haven't yet earned my VFW hat, so I am still 
working on that, Chair Takano.
    Thank you all so much. I introduced an amendment and I am 
introducing a bill into the popular VET TEC pilot program. As 
you know, the funding for this program was recently increased 
from $15 million to $45 million a year to allow more eligible 
veterans to participate. This program provides veterans with 
the opportunity to use GI Bill-style benefits to participate in 
short-term training for jobs in the IT industry. We know that 
1500 veterans have already been employed after this short-term 
training at an average salary of over $60,000 a year.
    I was just wondering if the feedback you have is similar to 
what I have heard within my district. What feedback have you 
received on the pilot program and can you please identify any 
improvements that are needed to help more veterans access this 
program, especially when we know that work helps with mental 
health, with self-esteem, and also given the unemployment with 
our veterans, both male and female?
    [Pause.]
    Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Jan or Nancy, you can feel free to 
answer, or Commander or Mike.
    Ms. Brown. I am vaguely familiar with the program and I do 
know that short-term programs, we here at AMVETS, in 
partnership with Lowes, provide scholarships and 
entrepreneurships for veterans to be in the trades and I look 
at this technical thing as along the same line, as short-term 
training for excellent careers. And I would imagine that the 
response would be excellent, and we have had great response 
with our veteran entrepreneurships and our scholarships here 
with Lowes also for that type of training.
    And thank you for putting that bill through.
    Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Thank you.
    Do any of our other members have a comment?
    Mr. Fulton. Yes, ma'am, the FRA would clearly support any 
post-service veteran training initiatives.
    Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Thank you so much.
    With that, I will yield back my time, Chairman Takano.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Dr. Miller-Meeks.
    I now call on Representative Trone for 5 minutes. 
Representative Trone. Three minutes, 3 minutes.

                       HON. DAVID TRONE,
               U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM MARYLAND

    Mr. Trone. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much.
    Mr. Fulton, the use of telehealth has been extremely 
beneficial during the pandemic. You noted in your testimony 
that vets age 18 to 34 have higher rates of suicide than any 
other bracket. Have you seen any changes in the number of 
individuals who have sought care for mental illness since the 
onset of the pandemic, including this high-at-risk group of 18 
to 34?
    Mr. Fulton. From our research, what we have discovered is 
that only 25 percent or so of the suicides have actually sought 
VA health care or those individuals aren't even registered with 
the VA.
    Mr. Trone. So when you think about the benefits and 
challenges of tele-mental health, how would you lay out those? 
Because 25 percent is clearly an unacceptable number, they are 
not getting the help they need.
    Mr. Fulton. We definitely could use more outreach. Any type 
of suicide awareness, whether it be via telehealth or actually 
in-person, brick-and-mortar, is certainly welcome.
    Mr. Trone. Any specific things we should be thinking about 
on outreach? I mean, clearly, we are not cutting through, they 
are not getting the help, and they are dying in huge numbers.
    Mr. Fulton. Yes, I would think that a lot of it is the VA 
being proactive in reaching out to veterans on their separation 
through their transition TAP or whatever we feel is important.
    Mr. Trone. Well, could you have somebody get back to us 
about what exactly, precisely is done to reach out when they 
have that separation from the service to coming out as a vet, 
you know, what do they get and how often do they get it.
    But, clearly, what we are doing now, we all want to do 
better and help our folks. So we need the big changes or just 
kind of continue the same old path of increasing suicides, you 
know, with our veterans. Would that be fair?
    Mr. Fulton. Yes, sir, absolutely. We will get back to your 
office in writing.
    Mr. Trone. Okay, great. I will loop back later on with some 
other questions on addiction.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Mr. Trone.
    Is there anyone else seeking time for questioning on this 
first round? Anyone else seeking time, members who have not 
questioned yet? Because I am going to open up for a second 
round of questioning.
    So, members, hang around if you want to get more time. But 
first I want to make sure that nobody who has not asked a 
question yet, no member or Senator who has not asked a question 
that has----
    Mr. Trone. I think we are next. There is nobody here.
    Chairman Takano. All right. I am going to now open up for a 
second round of questions. I will now recognize myself for 
another 3 minutes. And members who remain--Mr. Trone, if you 
could mute your microphone? There it goes. Okay. Thank you, Mr. 
Trone.
    All right. I am going to go through a second round of 
questioning.
    President Sharp, this question is for you. Last year, 
Congress passed Mr. Gallego's PACT Act, a bill that will 
finally eliminate VA copays for Native veterans to whom we have 
a treaty obligation to provide health care. In your testimony, 
you discuss concerns about VA implementing this law as the 
health care system only captures self-identified Native 
veterans, not those who are members of federally recognized 
tribes and, therefore, have a potential status in addition to a 
minority status.
    Can you elaborate on your concerns about how VA is planning 
to implement this law?
    Ms. Sharp. Yes. The main concern we have in implementation 
is that the United States needs to recognize that our citizens 
not only are citizens of the United States, but of sovereign 
Tribal Nations, and for us to effectively deliver services to 
our citizens it is absolutely necessary that we engage with the 
Administration in a consultation relationship where we can come 
to the table, we can address the issues for which we can enlist 
all of our collective resources.
    And so having a meaningful, direct relationship with 
sovereign Tribal Nations through a consultation process, 
President Biden has issued a memorandum of consultation 
directing each agency to engage in consultation processes. I 
would imagine that all veterans agencies are now engaged in 
that process. So we would encourage that to happen right away.
    Chairman Takano. Great. What will it mean if the 
implementation of this law is delayed and Native veterans 
continue to be charged copays?
    Ms. Sharp. It is going to continue to have an economic 
impact on some of our most vulnerable citizens during some 
challenging times. It is taking a financial toll, and we need 
immediate relief for our Native veterans on every economic 
front, including implementing Federal legislation that is 
designed to ease the economic condition of our veterans.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you.
    Mr. Kinsberry, I am passionately committed to redressing 
some of the discrimination that occurred to our minority 
veterans, especially with regard to the GI Bill, and the VA 
home loan program. I would like to maybe establish even a 
commission that would take testimony from veterans who are 
discriminated against.
    Do you have any thoughts about that idea?
    Mr. Kinsberry. Yes, sir. I think that would be an 
outstanding idea. That way we can really assess the magnitude 
and the severity and the depth of the negative impact that it 
has caused on many generations of veterans and family members. 
So I would certainly applaud and support that initiative.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you.
    My time is up. I am going to call on Mr. Trone again. Mr. 
Trone, go ahead.
    Mr. Trone. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Ms. Sharp, I am particularly concerned about the number of 
veterans who have been impacted by substance use disorder. Have 
you seen an increase in substance use disorder since the COVID 
pandemic hit, and any change in the type of substances that are 
being abused?
    Ms. Sharp. Yes, we are certainly seeing a rise on many 
metrics of our health care system, including substance abuse. I 
am not particularly familiar with what type of substances, but 
I can say that we are seeing a rise on many of our metrics. We 
are disproportionately impacted by COVID. And we are employing 
some of our traditional medicines and long-standing methods and 
practice of trying to treat our veterans.
    But, yes, we have seen an increase in substance abuse.
    Mr. Trone. Okay, if you could get us the data on that. We 
are working on some different ideas and we would like to see 
specifically, like on the suicide numbers, those seeking mental 
health, those seeking substance use disorder treatment, you 
know, if we have the metrics, we can understand how it fits 
versus the general population, and then we can work together to 
help our veterans.
    Ms. Sharp. We will be happy to provide that information.
    Mr. Trone. Thank you.
    Do the VA's current services and offering for substance use 
disorder, in your mind, meet the needs of our vets in terms of 
quality and accessibility?
    Why don't you take a stab at that. Don't all volunteer at 
once.
    Substance use disorder. Anybody know what it is?
    [Pause.]
    Mr. Trone. No one can take a stab at it? Okay.
    Well, you owe us a lot of data then on what the hell is 
happening, because it ain't good if no one even has any ideas 
about what needs to be done when it is clearly increasing, it 
is linked to suicide, it is linked to mental health, and they 
are all going up in the wrong direction.
    So I am really a little disappointed. I think we could be 
doing better and someone might have some observations.
    Ms. Sharp. Yes, Congressman Trone, I appreciate your both 
frustration and concern about that issue. And I would just like 
to suggest that, while I can't speak to sort of Western 
medicine models, I can speak to the health and welfare of our 
tribal citizens.
    For centuries, we have had traditional foods, traditional 
medicines that nourished and provided the health for our well-
being, whether it is physical, mental, or spiritual, and we are 
witnessing on our traditional homelands all across Indian 
country those medicines and those foods are disappearing due to 
the impacts of climate change.
    So if we are to do anything to provide for the 
comprehensive health care of Native Americans in this country, 
we not only need to employ world-class new and emerging science 
with world-class vaccines, we need to recognize we have 
centuries of knowledge and wisdom on these very lands and they 
are disappearing at a very alarming rate. And that concerns me 
about the health and well-being of our Native veterans. Siqwil.
    Mr. Trone. That is great. Thank you.
    I yield back. And our staff will loop back on to see if we 
can get the data on mental health, addiction, and suicide, so 
we will have some more clarity.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you. Thank you, Representative 
Trone.
    Mr. Mrvan, 3 minutes. Go ahead.
    Mr. Mrvan. Thank you. My question is for patient portals. 
And this is to everyone on the committee--and, again, I want to 
thank you all very much.
    In May 2018, the VA contracted with Cerner to replace My 
Healthy Vet, at least in the short term, as part of its EHR or 
electronic health records modernization program. The new 
portal, My VA Health, will replace My Healthy Vet, in areas 
that have implemented the new electronic health record program.
    What have you heard about the new Cerner portal, and has 
the VA engaged or contacted you to inform or train veterans on 
the new portal?
    Mr. Kinsberry. This is Richard Kinsberry with NABVETS. No, 
VA has not contacted my organization in reference to this 
initiative. And I have received, I guess, some mixed input from 
veterans, and I have not received any information on how the 
high utilization of this.
    I know prior to this, My Healthy Vet, there was pretty 
regular use of that program, but I have not gotten information 
on the new system yet.
    Mr. Mrvan. Thank you.
    Ms. Brown. If I may, sir? AMVETS has--we have not received 
much information from the VA, but from Cerner itself, we have 
biweekly meetings with them on the progress of the 
implementation of their programs. And while I have not heard 
specifically that individuals are having problems with the 
program, if we do, we will certainly let your office know.
    Mr. Mrvan. Commander Brown, can I ask maybe--and I don't 
want to pressure you, but may I ask one or two takeaways that 
you were able to take away from the Cerner dialog?
    Ms. Brown. Well, honestly, they meet with my executive 
director and my legislative person, but we can get back--I can 
get with them and we can get to you on what they are finding 
out.
    Mr. Mrvan. I greatly appreciate it. Thank you very much.
    Ms. Brown. Thank you.
    Mr. Mrvan. I yield back, Chairman.
    Chairman Takano. Thank you, Mr. Mrvan.
    I understand that--is Dr. Miller-Meeks back or is she--I 
thought I saw Dr. Miller-Meeks, but it looks like she logged 
off.
    All right. Is there anyone else seeking time for 
questioning? Any other member seeking time for a second round 
of questioning?
    I do not see anyone else, in which case I will thank all of 
our witnesses for their testimony today. It has been 
enlightening. I deeply appreciate your commitment to our 
Nation's veterans, their families, and survivors. We look 
forward to working with you and your organizations and your 
members throughout the 117th Congress to make sure that we 
continue to honor their service and sacrifice.
    All members will have 5 legislative days to revise and 
extend their remarks and include extraneous material.
    I want to again thank everyone for their presentations and 
this hearing is now adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 1:03 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]





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